The city of Chicago is experiencing a pandemic of car thefts in recent years with thieves brazenly driving away in broad daylight.
The lunkheads at Kia and Hyundai decided to save a few bucks and not install engine immobilizers in many models between 2011 and 2022. It was in 2022 that social media users began posting “how-to” videos on ways to exploit a security vulnerability in the vehicles.
The rest is history. The videos went viral and car theft — especially of Kias and Hyundais — skyrocketed. According to the Chicago police, 8,800 Kia and Hyundai vehicles were stolen in 2022, representing 41% of the city’s reported thefts. The city logged 21,516 thefts in 2022 compared to just 13,856 in 2021.
Ultimately, it’s the automakers’ fault and they should pay dearly for their stupidity. But why the hell is the city of Chicago doing the suing?
“The impact of car theft on Chicago residents can be deeply destabilizing, particularly for low- to middle-income workers who have fewer options for getting to work and taking care of their families,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a news release. “The failure of Kia and Hyundai to install basic auto-theft prevention technology in these models is sheer negligence, and as a result, a citywide and nationwide crime spree around automobile theft has been unfolding right before our eyes.”
I knew that “low and middle income workers” would make an appearance somewhere in the suit. As it turns out, it’s a purely political suit after all.
“Lawsuits filed by municipalities against Kia are without merit,” James Bell, a Kia spokesperson, said in an email Thursday. “The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has determined that this issue does not constitute a safety defect or noncompliance with applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, including … theft protection measures.”
Indeed, since the rash of auto thefts didn’t begin until some internet nerds posted videos online last year about how to exploit the system, why didn’t anyone sue in the decade prior when the same defect was present?
Engine immobilizers are now standard on all Hyundai and Kia vehicles produced as of November 2021, the automakers said. But with so many theft-vulnerable vehicles still on the road, the problem may not go away anytime soon.
In May, Kia and Hyundai agreed to pay about $200 million to settle a class-action lawsuit on behalf of about 9 million owners alleging the failure to install immobilizers led to widespread thefts, higher insurance costs and other related losses.
Both Kia and Hyundai are offering free “fixes” to make the older vehicles safer, including software updates and steering wheel locks.
This is exactly as it should be: individuals or people banding together suing the heck out of Kia and Hyundai for their desire to save a couple of bucks. But why cities? New York and St. Louis are also suing the automakers, and for the same reasons.
You can bet city attorneys across the United States are licking their chops, hoping to wet their beaks in a few billion in cash from deep-pocketed automakers.
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“Hyundai is committed to the comprehensive actions we are undertaking to assist customers and communities affected by the persistent theft of certain vehicles not equipped with push-button ignitions and engine immobilizers,” Hyundai spokesperson Ira Gabriel said in an email. “Our dealers across the country are maximizing the number of anti-theft software installations that can be performed on a daily basis, contributing to steadily increasing completion rates.”
Kia has distributed more than 190,000 steering wheel locks and performed nearly 650,000 software upgrades nationwide, which are designed to “restrict the operation of the vehicle’s ignition system should a potential criminal attempt to steal a locked vehicle without the key,” Bell said.
In its lawsuit, Chicago said the software fix has proved ineffective, with Kia and Hyundai owners reporting their vehicles stolen even after the upgrade. One owner had his 2020 Kia Optima stolen 15 hours after leaving the dealership with the upgrade, according to the lawsuit.
I sincerely hope that the consumers wronged by Kia and Hyundai get every penny they can out of the automakers.
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