Toyotas look all white to island’s car thieves

Do you own a white Toyota? If so, you might want to keep a closer eye on it over the next few days as insurance figures show they are the most likely cars to be stolen... especially in July. Figures compiled by Gasan Mamo’s auto insurance department revealed that almost a third of their client’s stolen vehicles were white Toyotas. Francis Valletta, the department’s general manager, believes the attractiveness of white vehicles to car thieves may be their ability to blend in. “White is by far the most common colour of vehicles and also of those stolen – second only to silver and grey cars, which are also quite common colours for Maltese cars,” Mr Valletta said, adding that he did not charge a higher premium for pale cars. Stolen Toyotas were followed by Peugeots and Fiats which, according to Transport Malta, are among the top 10 makes on Maltese roads. Gasan Mamo has recorded some 130 clients’ cars stolen since 2010 but a study published by Eurostat last week indicated 372 were stolen in Malta in 2010 alone. With an average of more than one stolen car a day, Malta placed slightly higher than the EU average for auto theft. The study found that the high number of cars on Maltese...