“DNA for cars” is to be introduced to South Africa in a bid to reduce the theft of vehicles.

TransUnion Auto Information Solutions, a global provider of risk and business intelligence solutions, has signed a partnership agreement with DataDot Technology South Africa to provide the new technology.

The technology involves spraying 10 000 dots the size of a grain of sand onto various parts of a vehicle. The dots, which are invisible to the naked eye and virtually impossible to remove, contain information on the identity of the vehicle.

“In the event of a vehicle being stolen, it may immediately be identified even if  the vehicle identity number (VIN), chassis or other unique marker have been removed. In addition, if the vehicle is broken up into pieces the police are able to verify the ownership of those parts on the spot.

Though motor manufacturers have not yet agreed to fit the dots in vehicles during production, this is already being done for car rental companies, including Avis and Imperial.

22 August 2005