HARTFORD, Conn. — As reports of Kia and Hyundai thefts continue to rise and go viral on social media, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong announced Tuesday his office is launching an investigation into why these car companies allegedly failed to protect their consumers.
Many Kia and Hyundai vehicles manufactured between 2011-2022 do not have engine immobilizers to prevent thieves from hot-wiring a car, Tong's office said. Tips on how to steal these vehicles and challenges to encourage others have been going viral online for over a year.
The thefts have become so frequent, that some insurance companies are no longer providing coverage for affected vehicles, which Tong said renders the cars undriveable. The two companies have also settled a class action lawsuit regarding the thefts.
“We have called on Hyundai and Kia over and over again to make this right and address the glaring public safety vulnerabilities in their vehicles. Whatever they have done to date is clearly not working," Tong said.
The massive uptick in thefts prompted many police stations to provide steering wheel locks to town residents who have vehicles at risk, Tong encourages consumers to make use of these locks and to also reach out to Kia or Hyundai to get the free theft deterrent software for their vehicle.
Even with these prevention methods, Tong hopes the two car companies can take more accountability and responsibility for what led up to the decision to forego adding engine immobilizers to their products.
"I’ve launched this investigation to force Hyundai and Kia to disclose every discussion and decision leading up to the sale of these theft-prone cars, as well as the costs and analysis of potential fixes," Tong said. "We are going to figure out exactly how this public safety threat came to be, and we will not hesitate to hold Hyundai and Kia fully accountable for addressing this disaster."
Tong said that while the affected vehicles were being manufactured, the companies were installing immobilizers on the same models being sold in Canada and Europe.
Back in April, Tong joined a coalition of 18 attorneys general to call for a federal recall of Hyundai and Kia vehicles manufactured between 2011-2022 and vulnerable to theft.
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