During the year 2025, there has been news of car theft from dealerships and repair garages around Switzerland. I did not expect that media would publish more about this issue in the country where nothing happens and if it ever happens…“we don’t want copycats”. Anyway, the story is out there.
First issue is the apparent recklessness of garages and dealerships. I don’t think any owner is as naïve as the people that works with cars professionally.
About the thieves, the story is another reminder than youth is wasted on the young. The stereotypical story of men yearning for recognition and possibly dying for it. In spite of stealing pricey cars, money is a secondary concern, feeling seen is more important. The irony here if that one of the few poverty markers across cultures around the world is the yearning for “look at me” when they enter the room. The hole inside is so big that maybe talking to the media will fill it.
I know the following chapters of the story. The young believe their adversaries are the police. But no, the police follows the law 99+% of times therefore little risk to life. The real risk here are the backers (Hintermänner) who could not care less about little thieves and don’t appreciate attention from the media. The story might end soon, the final chapter is the bodies of little thieves left babandoned in one of the big forests in France.
Back to Switzerland, the police says they working on it and expect results in the medium-term.