The most stolen cars, the new Renault Duster and more. Auto news of the day

Insurance companies have named the most stolen cars of late in 2021, details have emerged about the next-generation Duster crossover, and Volkswagen is going to revive the famous American SUV Scout

Insurers named the most stolen cars in 2021

Mitsubishi, Toyota, Kia and Hyundai models have topped the list of the most stolen cars in recent times since early 2021. This is evidenced by the statistics of the largest insurance companies in the hull market: AlfaStrakhovanie, RESO-Garantia, Rosgosstrakh and VSK Insurance House. The first 10 positions for the most stolen cars recently in the reports of different insurers turned out to be almost identical – the models occupy only different places within the top ten. The list includes: Hyundai Creta, Hyundai Tucson, Hyundai Santa Fe, Hyundai Solaris, Kia Rio, Kia Sportage, Lexus LX, Mitsubishi Outlander, Toyota Camry, and Toyota RAV4.

Photo: Shutterstock

At the same time, in Moscow, the list of the most stolen cars differs markedly from the current one. According to Rosgosstrakh, car thieves in the capital often pay attention to Nissan X-Trail and Nissan Qashqai, Mercedes-Benz GL/GLS and Mercedes-Benz GLK/GLC. Also among the criminals increased interest in the Audi A6, Porsche Macan and Mazda CX-5. The RESO-Garantia company noted that some budget models are often stolen in Moscow: Lada Largus, Renault Logan and Sandero. Representatives of AlfaStrakhovanie recalled the traditionally high interest of Moscow car thieves in the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado.

There are details about the new generation Duster crossover

The next-generation Dacia Duster crossover (recently sold under the Renault brand) should appear in 2024 or 2025. According to the head of the project, Julien Ferry, the third generation Duster will retain the basic concept of the model. It will be a simple car “with a very good price-performance ratio” that can easily go off-road. The crossover will be created on the CMF-B model platform, which underlies the current Logan and Sandero models, as well as the new Jogger crossover. The same architecture is used in the development of future models of the state brand Lada, which will become as technically unified as possible with Dacia cars.

Photo: autocar.co.uk

This chassis provides for the use of both traditional internal combustion engines and electrified power plants. For example, in 2022, the Jogger model will have a modification with a combined power plant, which “will become the most affordable seven-seater hybrid on the market.” In addition, in about one or two years, Dacia will release a new Bigster crossover, which will take its place in the brand's internal hierarchy one step above the Duster model.

Volkswagen will revive the famous SUV Scout

Volkswagen plans to develop a new electric SUV that could revive the famous Scout name. Under this name in the United States in 1961, International Harvester began producing a classic SUV designed to compete with Jeep cars. Car production ceased in 1980, and five years later, International Harvester, which had been manufacturing trucks and agricultural machinery since 1902, went bankrupt and ceased to exist.

Photo: Volkswagen

The Scout brand is currently owned by Volkswagen. The German concern owns the Traton company, which combines the Man, Scania and Navistar truck brands. The last company, founded in 1986, is the direct successor of International Harvester. According to preliminary data, Scout may become an independent sub-brand, under which new SUVs will be sold separately from Volkswagen cars. At the same time, as expected, the new model will appear no earlier than in five years. Earlier, Volkswagen has already talked about the possibility of producing an electric SUV, which, according to its characteristics, will be able to compete with the Land Rover Defender, Jeep Wrangler and Mercedes-Benz G-Class.