MORE than 30 cars were stolen in Launceston in the three months to March, making it the state’s second biggest hot spot for vehicle theft.
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Figures from the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council show 34 cars were stolen in Launceston in the first quarter of the year.
Glenorchy topped the state with 61 cars stolen.
Clarence, Brighton and Hobart rounded out the top five.
Tuesday and Saturday between 8pm and midnight was the peak time slot for the state’s car thieves.
There were 210 vehicles stolen in the March quarter in Tasmania compared to 10,000 nationwide.
Of Tasmania’s tally 22 were motorcycles.
Overall Tasmania saw a reduction of 61 thefts compared to the previous quarter.
The council said Tasmania, New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria and South Australia all experienced the lowest rate of thefts for passenger and light vehicles in a 12 month period since the council’s establishment in 1999.
Vehicles stolen for profit, such as rebirthing, is calculated separately.
Car theft is also down in Tasmania year on year.
In 2013 1135 vehicles were stolen, a drop of 16 per cent on 2012.
While Ford and Holden battled it out at the national level, the humble Nissan Pulsar N15 took first place for Tasmania’s car nabbers.
Second was the Subaru Liberty followed by the Nissan Pulsar N14, of which 24 were stolen in 2013, down from 39 the previous year.
Launceston’s Tessa Wynne doesn’t need stats to know her car is a thief magnet.
Her Nissan Pulsar N14 has been stolen once and broken into five times in the past few years.
‘‘If I didn’t have an immobiliser I think it would have been stolen three times now,’’ Ms Wynne said.
Like most car theft victims in Tasmania, Ms Wynne had her Pulsar recovered.
Indeed the council’s data shows Tasmania to have the highest rate of recovered stolen vehicles in Australia.
Ms Wynne revealed what might be behind Tasmanian thieves’ taste for the early model Pulsar.
‘‘They can be stolen with scissors,’’ she said.