Boom in partial car thefts in Italy. The numbers of vandalisations
Partial thefts of cars are on the rise according to a report published by LoJack, the CalAmp group company that deals with the recovery of stolen vehicles. The phenomenon has resulted in damages of around EUR 5,000 for car owners and an increase in sales of spare parts.
Key points
Lombardy leads the ranking of partial car thefts in Italy, followed by Lazio and Campania. According to the data collected in the report published by LoJack, the phenomenon affects mainly small cars, but also higher segment cars, with damages of up to more than EUR 5,000 for vehicle owners in addition to feeding the illegal market for spare parts in Italy and abroad. Thanks to LoJack, 1,032 vehicles were recovered in the six months of 2025, with a value of EUR 33.4 million.
The most affected car models
Although there is no precise data on the most affected brands, the models involved are those that are most popular and generate the greatest demand for spare parts, but also those that can obtain spare parts with a higher economic value. Among the most vandalised are cars from the Stellantis group such as the Fiat Panda, 500, 500X and Punto, and also the Lancia Ypsilon and Jeep Renegade, but also models from Audi, Smart, Ford, Peugeot, Renault, Citroen, Toyota, Lexus, targeted especially for their batteries, Range Rover and Volkswagen. As with the theft of entire cars, the phenomenon takes on particular peculiarities depending on latitude: in the South, the most affected are the Fiat Panda and 500, while in the North, models from the Toyota, Lexus, Range Rover and Volkswagen brands prevail.
Italian regions with a red dot
The geography of partial thefts is different from that of vehicle thefts: Lombardy is now the Italian region most affected by these thefts with almost half of the cases (40%), followed by Latium (27%) and Campania (18%). The phenomenon is particularly concentrated within large cities: in Rome and Milan, around 28% of total thefts are recorded. Apulia and in particular the area between Manfredonia and Cerignola, known as the Bermuda Triangle of car thefts, is the place where cars are at greatest risk of having their components stolen, with real dismantling centres scattered across the countryside and compliant workshops and car repair shops reselling the stolen parts. The Campania region is also experiencing a significant increase in these episodes.
More than a thousand vehicles recovered in the half-year 2025
In the first six months of the year, LoJack, thanks to its unique radio frequency technology, an always-operating control centre and a team of experts in the field who support the search activities of the police, recovered 1,032 cars, worth approximately 33.4 million euro. 54% of the finds were of SUVs, most notably the Toyota RAV4, and 32% of the cars, led by the Fiat Panda. The regions with the highest concentration of criminal episodes, Lazio, Campania, Puglia, Lombardy and Sicily, were the scene of the most numerous finds.
Car parts theft report
Partial theft of car parts is a growing threat to vehicle owners in Italy: in 2024 almost 14,000 interventions to repair damage caused by partial theft or attempted theft were recorded, an increase of 3.5% compared to the year before (source: Car Clinic Observatory). The phenomenon, known as car cannibalisation, affects vehicles between 4 and 6 years old, one in three of the total episodes, but also more recently registered vehicles up to 3 years old, accounting for 28% of the total. Thefts cause considerable economic damage to the owners of stolen vehicles as well as fuelling the black market in spare parts, also at international level.
