New York City is suing Hyundai and its affiliate Kia for negligence and public nuisance over complaints that a lack of anti-theft devices caused a “virtual explosion” of stolen cars.
The New York lawsuit follows several other major U.S. cities suing the South Korean automaker on similar grounds.
New York blamed Hyundai and Kia for failing to install the device, known as an anti-theft device, on most of its cars between 2011 and 2022, claiming it “opened the floodgates for vehicle theft, crime sprees, reckless driving and public harm”.
Certain Hyundai and Kia models are vulnerable to theft because they use mechanical keys instead of key fobs and lack the anti-theft devices found in other vehicles. An immobilizer has a transponder in the car’s key fob, which sends a code when the car is started. The car will not start unless it has the correct code.
The city said in a statement that it “aims to hold the companies accountable for refusing to equip certain models of the two vehicles with standard anti-theft features following an increase in car thefts,” And added that Hyundai and Kia vehicles were “almost unique” among the manufacturers in their lack of such equipment.
Two-vehicle thefts to explode in last four months of 2022 vibrato video Videos showing how to steal cars without immobilizers and push-button ignitions went viral. Hyundai thefts jumped from 12 to 104 in New York, while Kia thefts jumped from 10 to 99 over the same period, according to the city’s law department.
Thieves are destroying ignition covers on Hyundai and Kia vehicles and are able to use any external device shaped like a USB to bypass the ignition sequence, the law department said.
Hyundai acknowledged the problems with some of its models, but stressed that its vehicles fully comply with U.S. federal requirements. The company said it had taken “comprehensive” measures to help customers, with immobilizers standard on all production vehicles from November 2021.
It also provides a software update for all nearly 4 million vehicles without anti-theft devices to prevent the popular method of theft. It is also offering free steering wheel locks to owners of affected vehicles.
Kia has taken similar steps for more than 3 million car owners and said the lawsuits brought against the company by U.S. cities are “baseless.”
The automakers reached a $200 million consumer class-action settlement last month over theft, involving about 9 million car owners in New York.
Analysts noted that Hyundai and Kia could see more lawsuits from other U.S. cities as car thefts continue despite the software upgrade.
“The issue will negatively affect the automaker’s brand image and make some customers avoid Hyundai and Kia,” said Lee Hang-koo, a consultant at the Korea Institute of Automotive Technology. “The ballooning legal bills and damages will also eat into their finances.”