New lead before we build the wall
New lead before we build the wall
Mexican Car Thefts Surge at Record Pace as Police Can’t Keep Up
2017-05-02 19:32:43.151 GMT
By Isabella Cota
(Bloomberg) -- Auto-theft rates in Mexico are rising at the
fastest pace ever, and authorities are getting worse at tracking
down the stolen cars.
In March, the number of auto thefts rose 21 percent from
the same month a year earlier, according to numbers from the car
insurance association known as Amis. Meanwhile, the recovery
rate -- the percentage of stolen cars that police were able to
recover -- dropped to its lowest since at least 2005.
This is an ominous trend for the country’s car insurers,
many of which are already paying out more in claims than they’re
collecting in premiums, Moody’s Investors Service said in a
report Tuesday. It’s also part of an uptick in lawlessness
across Mexico, which saw a 20 percent jump in violent crimes
last year, according to a study released March 30 by the
University of San Diego. A survey also shows Mexicans’
perception of insecurity in their municipality and neighborhood
is at the highest since at least 2011.
The car-theft trend “will continue throughout the second
quarter which will, in turn, have an impact on first-half
returns," Francisco Uriostegui, an analyst at Moody’s who helped
write the report, said in an interview. “In the end, it’s the
customer that will have to pay more, for a higher premium and
it’ll be due to a drop in the recovery rate for these vehicles."
Qualitas Controladora SAB and Grupo Nacional Provincial SAB
are the two biggest auto insurers in Mexico, Uriostegui said,
while units of Grupo Financiero Banorte and Grupo Financiero
Inbursa are also among the top 10.
