1995 Saturn SL most stolen car in '03

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CHICAGO, May 25 (UPI) -- A Chicago firm that serves the auto claims and collision industry says the most frequently stolen car last year was the 1995 Saturn SL.

After the Saturn, the 1998 Acura Integra and 1994 Saturn SL ranked as the second and third most stolen vehicles, respectively, in 2003.

CCC Information Services identified the most-stolen vehicles by analyzing total loss claims it received from more than 350 property and casualty insurers in North America.

This year, CCC compared its stolen-vehicle data against vehicle registration volume information provided by R.L. Polk & Co. to determine the rate of theft as a percentage of registered vehicles. The vehicle with the highest theft percentage was deemed the year's most stolen vehicle.

"We process approximately 1 million claims-related transactions each day, giving us extensive vehicle information," said CCC's Mary Jo Prigge.

"We cannot determine the exact reason thieves prefer some vehicles over others, but our data suggest some cars are stolen for the value of their parts, which may explain why we often see a 'clustering' effect with same make and model vehicles from sequential model years."