Professional car thieves have colour preferences when choosing their targets, according to a new study by the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council.

A black 1997-2000 Holden Commodore VT is three times more likely to be stolen for profit than a red one, but black and red Commodores have similar short-term thefts rates.

By type, green small and medium passenger vehicles are the most likely to be stolen.

The 2015/16 theft rate for green cars was 3.58 per 1000 vehicles, followed by black at 2.96.

The next most popular targets by type are large black passenger vehicles, black sports vehicles, green SUVs and black light commercial vehicles.

Black cars became increasingly popular to own in 2015/16, up 29% since 2011/2012, and even more popular to steal, up 56% since 2011/12.

Red 1995-2000 Nissan Pulsars have the highest theft rate by model (29.6 thefts per 1000 registrations) – a 46% higher theft rate than blue ones.

Black 2006-13 Holden Commodores have a 57% higher theft rate than silver ones.