Is Section 10851 a lesser-included crime?

We also reject defendant's contention that it is always irrational to punish a lesser-included offense more harshly than a greater offense. This argument is based on the premise that a lesser-included offense is always less serious than a greater offense, and therefore inevitably warrants a lesser punishment. While Section 10851 is a lesser-included offense of grand theft auto (People v. Barrick, supra, 33 Cal.3d at p. 128), defendant misconstrues the relationship between lesser and greater offenses. One offense is necessarily included in another if all of its elements are also elements of the greater offense. (People v. Sanchez (2001) 24 Cal.4th 983, 987.) However, a lesser-included offense is not necessarily less serious than a greater offense; it simply has fewer statutory elements. (See Wilkinson, supra, 33 Cal.4th at p. 839 [not irrational to punish lesser-included offense more severely than greater offense].)