Toyota Has A Cunning Plan To Stop Thieves

Automakers areinvesting billions of dollarsto develop more environmentally-friendly electric cars, but gasoline-powered cars are still dominating salesunless you live in Norway. One way to reduce emissions on a gas guzzler is to fit a catalytic converter that cleans the exhaust gases, but this has some drawbacks. Gearheads will protest that catalytic converters reduce a car's performance, but they are also becoming the target of organized criminals. Thefts of catalytic converters have seen asharp rise over the last few yearsdue to the increasing value of the precious metals such as platinum, palladium, and rhodium inside them that are then illegally sold by criminals. But Toyota has a cunning plan to reduce these thefts.

In the UK, Toyota is spending more than £1 million ($1.4 million) to covertly mark more than 100,000 catalytic converters on older cars like thePrius.

Initially, a batch of 50,000 kits will be developed by a company called Smartwater that manufactures police-approved marking kits. These kits add invisible markings that can trace stolen catalytic converters to a specific crime, helping police track and arrest thieves. The service will be free for all Toyota and Lexus owners, who simply need to contact their local dealer to arrange for the marking to be fitted.

Thieves are targeting older Toyota and Lexus hybrid models because the catalysts are put under less stress than a non-electrified car and are in better condition as a result. This also makes it harder for Toyota to contact owners because some older models may no longer be a part of its retailer network.