It’s reached the purpose the place sure Hyundai and Kia fashions are really easy to steal that American insurers refuse to promote insurance policies overlaying these fashions. Now, the downside of the easy-to-steal Hyundais has wound up with a lawsuit by New York Metropolis in opposition to the Korean automobile maker and its Kia stablemate.
As reported by Reuters, New York Metropolis accuses Kia and Hyundai of negligence and making a public nuisance. The case faults the automakers’ failure to put in anti-theft measures like immobilizers on affected fashions between 2011 to 2022. Reuters experiences:
New York mentioned this has “opened the floodgates to car theft, crime sprees, reckless driving, and public hurt,” exacerbated by TikTok movies exhibiting methods to steal vehicles that lack push-button ignitions and immobilizers.
The town mentioned the variety of reported stolen Hyundais and Kias doubled final yr, adopted by a “digital explosion of thefts” within the first 4 months of 2023 with 977 reported thefts, up from 148 in the identical interval in 2022.
In its case in opposition to Hyundai and Kia, New York mentioned that in the identical interval, thefts of vehicles from BMW, Ford, Honda, Mercedes, Nissan and Toyota have truly fallen this yr.
In response to the lawsuit, Kia dubbed the case “with out advantage” and Hyundai mentioned in an announcement that it had made immobilizers commonplace on all autos from November 2021. In keeping with Reuters, the automaker additionally mentioned it had taken different precautionary steps, “together with a software program improve to scale back the specter of thefts.”
The grievance filed by New York “seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages,” experiences Reuters. It marks the most recent case in opposition to the Korean automakers, following related go well withs filed by cities together with Milwaukee, San Diego, Seattle, Cleveland, and Baltimore.