4 Million Hyundai and 3.1 Million Kia Vehicles Affected
Costs Expected to Exceed $500 Million
Hyundai Motor and Kia have decided to add anti-theft devices to more than 7 million vehicles in the United States to address concerns about vehicle theft.
According to Reuters on December 16 (local time), Hyundai Motor and Kia have agreed to measures such as installing anti-theft equipment in order to resolve an investigation conducted by the attorneys general of 35 U.S. states. The two companies will provide owners of affected vehicles, including those that previously could only receive software updates, with reinforced zinc ignition cylinder protectors free of charge. In addition, they will equip all vehicles sold in the United States going forward with the anti-theft technology known as an 'engine immobilizer.' The hardware update will reportedly apply to 4 million Hyundai vehicles and 3.1 million Kia vehicles.
Keith Ellison, Attorney General of Minnesota, citing estimates from the two companies, stated that the cost of installing ignition cylinder protectors on all vehicles involved in this matter could exceed $500 million (approximately 738.3 billion won). Reuters reported that the companies plan to pay up to $9 million to consumers and state governments to cover consumer compensation and investigation costs.
Previously, starting around August 2022, a trend of stealing passenger cars through social media platforms such as TikTok became popular in the United States, with Hyundai and Kia vehicles lacking anti-theft devices becoming primary targets. The engine immobilizer is a technology that places a chip with a special code in the car key handle, and the engine will not start unless it detects a signal with the matching code. Thieves reportedly targeted models manufactured before November 2021 that did not have this feature.
Subsequently, in February 2023, Hyundai Motor and Kia reported anti-theft measures such as software upgrades to U.S. transportation authorities. However, several state governments, including Minnesota, deemed these actions insufficient and launched investigations into possible violations of consumer protection laws by the two companies.
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