Gone are the days when thieves would smash a car window and then hotwire it to steal it. The Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ) says burglars, deterred by high tech immobilisers on desirable cars, are now breaking into houses to search for the keys.

ICNZ CEO Chris Ryan says “very well-organised crime networks” are targeting expensive high-performance cars and urged owners to hide the keys in their homes.

The Kiwis are after much the same top-end cars as their high Australian counterparts: Holden’s Commodore HSV, SS and Monaro, the Ford Falcon XR6 and XR8, Subaru Impreza WRX and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution.

Mr Ryan told the NZ Herald that insurers may consider increasing premiums over the problem. “We may get to the situation where insurance companies will say, if you have a high-performance car, it may need to be in the garage at all times.”