More than half of Scotland's car thefts are unsolved
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More than half of vehicle thefts in Scotland are unsolved, new police figures have revealed.
An average of 12 vehicles are reported stolen every day but detection rates for the crime remain low.
Experts say vehicles are often being stolen to order by criminal gangs using technology to bypass entry systems on keyless cars.
Police Scotland's figures also show a detection rate of 24% for all vehicle crime over the last three years.
A new insurance claim is made every six minutes as a result of car theft in the UK and payouts are at their highest level for seven years.
Insurers and security experts have expressed concerns about technological vulnerabilities such as the keyless car entry systems.
Police Scotland said it works closely with the industry to stay on top of technological advances and said cars are mainly stolen for onward sale, short-term use in other crimes and for breaking down for parts.
Richard Billyeald, chief technical officer at Thatcham Research, a safety and security group funded by the car insurance industry, said: "We have moved on quite some way from the epidemic levels of car crime of the 1990s and that is largely because of the technological changes.
"However, this has opened up new avenues for this sort of crime.
"For criminal gangs it is an attractive proposition; stealing a £60,000 car from a driveway in the middle of the night is a lower risk as there is little confrontation and if they are organised, and they mostly are, then it can be stripped down for parts or moved on in a relatively short space of time.
"The police have a very difficult job, it is often a crime without any evidence and largely down to technological vulnerabilities.
"The layers of security added over the years in the industry count for nothing when they can be circumvented instantly by criminals using digital devices.
"We have had repeated concerns over keyless entry or start vulnerability, with too many examples of cars being stolen in seconds from driveways."
Mr Billyeald said the bypassing of entry systems on keyless cars - known as "relay attack" - was the most common issue.
But on-board diagnostic computers in cars, as well as blocking the signal from a standard fob so the car does not lock, is also a problem.
Six new car models were given a "poor" ranking in a theft-risk report on keyless entry vehicles by Thatcham Research in March.
Models rated poor were the Ford Mondeo, Hyundai Nexo, Kia ProCeed, Lexus UX, Porsche Macan, and Toyota Corolla Hybrid.
But the car industry did criticise the methodology of the Thatcham study.
How keyless theft or "relay attack" works
Keyless car entry systems let drivers open and start their cars without taking their key out of their pocket.
Thieves, normally working in pairs, will target a car parked outside a house.
One criminal will hold a device close to the car that boosts the signal meant for the key, while the other thief will stand close to the house with another device that relays that signal to the key, fooling the system.
Figures from Police Scotland, released to BBC Scotland under freedom of information laws, show that in 2017/18 a total of 4,589 vehicles were stolen, with 1,980 of this type of crime solved in that year.
The previous year there were 4,668 vehicles stolen and 2,002 crimes detected in that period.
Over the last three years, there have been a total of 45,854 vehicle-related crimes, which includes attempted theft and stealing items from the vehicle.
A total of 11,194 of these vehicle-related crimes were solved over the same three-year period, according to Police Scotland figures.
A breakdown of the figures also shows a variance of detected stolen vehicle crimes by local authority councillor wards.
The Edinburgh suburb of Morningside had a detection rate for stolen cars of just 15.6% in 2017/18, but Dunfermline South in Fife had a 100% rate.
Elsewhere, the Torry area of Aberdeen had a 37.5% detection rate last year, while the Millburn ward of Inverness was at 75%.
'Increasingly complex crime'
Det Sgt Nicola Shepherd, of Police Scotland, said the force had detected 273 more vehicle crimes across Scotland in 2018/19 than the previous year.
She added: "We understand the effect vehicle crime has on victims and we are working to combat this increasingly complex crime.
"This type of crime often involves vehicles being targeted and stolen to be used in other criminal activity.
"We work closely with other police forces, car manufacturers, the insurance industry and private sector to improve our shared understanding of technical developments and trends.
"We know more can be done and we want to promote preventative measures to create a difficult environment for criminals and I'd ask people to be vigilant and wary of any suspicious activity in your street, including people scoping out the area. Keep your keys in a safe place and away from the front door."