San Diego’s city attorney is suing Kia and Hyundai, alleging their failure to install industry-standard anti-theft technology in several of their cars.
City Attorney Mara Elliott filed the complaint in California Superior Court on March 16 alleging the car manufacturers are liable “for creating a public nuisance,” joining other cities that have filed similar complaints or are planning to do so, including Seattle, Cleveland, and Milwaukee.
“Making sure cars are not easy to steal keeps dangerous drivers in stolen vehicles off the road,” Elliott said in a statement. “Hyundai’s and Kia’s decisions to put cost savings and profits over public safety has had significant consequences for San Diego and its residents, leading to a substantial increase in vehicle thefts, reckless driving, related crime sprees, and public harm.”
The lawsuit describes how videos on social media platform TikTok teach thieves how to easily steal the cars. It states that other car makers use an immobilizer device—which prevents engines from starting without the correct key—to stop thefts, and that Kia and Hyundai don’t have it in many of the cars they sold in the United States.
“This is not because the technology is somehow beyond them” the complaint alleges, “in fact, Hyundai and Kia vehicles sold in the European and Canadian markets incorporate vehicle immobilizers, because regulations there expressly require them.”
The lawsuit seeks relief in the form of requiring the companies to provide immobilizer technology in their vehicles in the United States and to provide funds for “actual and compensatory damages.”
In response, Kia representatives said in a March 20 company statement that they have contacted more than 1 million owners and lessees of such vehicles, informing them of “the availability of the software upgrade and to advise them to schedule a free installation at any Kia dealer.”
The company is also scheduled to contact 2 million more clients by the end of March and has distributed more than 23,000 steering wheel locks to law enforcement agencies for free distribution to affected owners, according to the statement.
Hyundai said in a Feb. 14 statement, prior to the San Diego lawsuit, that it’s providing a free anti-theft software upgrade to prevent theft by those using the method popularized on social media.
Upgraded vehicles receive a window sticker alerting would-be thieves of the enhanced anti-theft upgrade, according to the statement.
“Hyundai is committed to ensuring the quality and integrity of our products through continuous improvement and is pleased to provide affected customers with an additional theft deterrent through this software upgrade,” Randy Parker, CEO of Hyundai Motor America, said in a statement. “We have prioritized the upgrade’s availability for owners and lessees of our highest selling vehicles and those most targeted by thieves in order for dealers to service them first.”
