Whole Of Vehicle Marking expensive waste of time

Media Release
24 August 2007

Whole Of Vehicle Marking an expensive waste of time

The new vehicle industry has come out strongly against Government proposals to enforce the application of Whole Of Vehicle Marking, or micro dotting on every vehicle newly registered in New Zealand. The Motor Industry Association (MIA) has called the scheme ‘a very expensive waste of time’, and has produced statistics to back up its claim.

“Whole Of Vehicle Marking has proven to be very successful in the case of certain specialised or high performance vehicles which are the subject of targeted professional theft for the value of their components,” said Perry Kerr, CEO of the MIA, “but these cars many of which are already micro dotted are only a tiny percentage of the national vehicle fleet, and the Government, in its haste to appear to be doing something, has completely failed to understand that the universal fitment of electronic immobilisers to new vehicles in recent years is proving to be a very effective deterrent, not only for professional theft, but joyriding as well. The case for micro dotting seems to have been made on the basis of crude data relating to the total number of cars stolen, but any proper analysis will reveal that the overwhelming majority of stolen cars are older models not fitted with immobilisers.”

“It’s quite disturbing to think that Government is proposing to impose this cost and logistical disruption on the vehicle industry and car buyers when the Police cannot provide hard data as to the age distribution of stolen vehicles, makes and models, whether they are New Zealand new cars or used imports or whether or not the vehicle was fitted with an immobiliser,” said Mr. Kerr.

The MIA has analysed a ‘dump’ of the file of all current unrecovered stolen vehicles and come up with some interesting facts. Of the 34,452 cars and trucks on the list, just 95 (0.28%) are cars built in 2003 or later. Using Government officials ( MOT, Police, Justice and LTNZ ) estimated cost of $88 per vehicle (this doesn’t include the cost of extra vehicle movement and storage) for the application of microdots to new cars only, 343,224 car buyers would have had to spend a total of $30,203,712 since the beginning of 2003 to protect just 95 cars from theft. “This is $317,934 per stolen car, hardly a cost-effective strategy,” said Mr. Kerr. “Also, there’s no guarantee that a fair proportion of the 95 cars wouldn’t have been stolen whether fitted with microdots or not.”

“After analysing this data we can certainly appreciate why the insurance industry isn’t reducing premiums for new cars already equipped with microdots,” Mr. Kerr added. “The fact is that new cars don’t get stolen in sufficient numbers because immobilisers make it too hard, so where is the incentive? Conversely, some insurance companies insist on the fitment of aftermarket immobilisers to older cars, so they certainly see the benefit of this technology.”

“Whole Of Vehicle Marking has its place, but it should be a voluntary option for the purveyors of those particular vehicles which are highly sought after by the criminal community for their components,” Mr. Kerr said. “The data available suggests that the presence of an immobiliser is sufficient protection for the other 98% of vehicles. If this proposal goes ahead, car buyers will be in the position of being forced to absorb an extra cost for no real benefit, and the only winners will be the suppliers of microdots.”

ENDS

BACKGROUND NOTES:

* Whole of Vehicle Marking (WOVM) was one of the two vehicle specific initiatives proposed in the Vehicle Crime Reduction Programme announced by the Government in January 2005.

* WOVM is a process by which certain components are marked – this is done by spraying very small microdots which contain the vehicle’s unique identification number (VIN). The microdots are sprayed under the vehicle, through the engine bay, inside door panels etc.

They are not sprayed onto painted surfaces.

* WOVM’s benefit to reducing vehicle theft is that it is used in cases where a vehicle is stripped for parts, and those parts are sold, Police can identify a part, by reference to the VIN on a microdot; and from there establish if the part is from a stolen vehicle.

* Police estimate that three out of ten stolen vehicles are stolen by professional thieves and may be broken down for parts sale.

* WOVM will not stop a vehicle being stolen; in fact based on police’s own statistics seven out of ten vehicles will continue to be stolen by joyriders.

* Technology to stop vehicles being stolen (i.e. hotwired) include an immobiliser; this technology is fitted to 98% plus of all New Zealand new cars sold today.

* Officials’ papers suggest that the cost of WOVM will be around $88 per vehicle. This cost did not include any of the logistical costs such as transporting vehicles to and from application agents; additional time involved in the overall process, that is that while the actual process of applying datadots takes approximately 15 minutes, vehicles have to be moved around the premises , on and off hoists etc.

A MIA member currently applying microdots to all their vehicles has estimated an additional two days holding time is involved.

* Used Japanese imported vehicles have their own additional set issues such as levels of cleanliness required before microdots can be applied.

* Microdots cannot be applied to wet surfaces. Also in wet conditions drying times are increased – adding to the overall costs noted above.

* New Zealand Police cannot provide an age, make or model profile of stolen vehicles.

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