HARTFORD, Conn. — Attorney General William Tong joined a coalition of 18 attorneys general on Thursday calling for a recall of Hyundai and Kia vehicles following the companies’ alleged failure to address their vehicles' alarming rate of thefts.
The letter, sent to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA), asks that the administration recall unsafe Hyundai and Kia vehicles manufactured between 2011 and 2022 whose easily bypassed ignition switches and lack of engine immobilizers make them vulnerable to theft.
In March 2023, a coalition of attorneys general urged the companies to take steps to address the safety concerns. Now they're calling on the federal government to step in.
“Hyundai and Kia sold cars without industry standard anti-theft devices, posing an unreasonable risk to public safety. Viral videos show youth how to hotwire these cars in a matter of seconds, encouraging reckless driving and criminal activity that has resulted in injuries and deaths," Tong said. "I’ve called on Hyundai and Kia to fix this, quickly, and without nickel and diming their customers. They’ve failed and we can’t wait any longer. It’s time for the federal government to step in and force a recall."
According to the coalition, the companies chose not to include anti-theft devices that were a standard feature in almost every new car manufactured during between 2011 and 2022, including the same Hyundai and Kia models sold in Canada and Europe.
These vehicles have been stolen at high rates since 2021, harming consumers and contributing to an erosion of public safety, Tong alleges. The thefts have frequently been accompanied by reckless driving and further criminal activity, causing injuries and deaths.
The thefts have even gone viral, with videos on social media showing how to hotwire these vehicles and challenging others to steal them. Following these videos, thefts began surging across the country.
In the letter, the states urge NHTSA to take immediate action by instituting a recall of the unsafe Hyundai and Kia vehicles because:
- The vehicles violate federal requirements that vehicles have a starting system that prevents the activation of the engine or motor and steering system when the key is removed;
- The Hyundai and Kia vehicles’ vulnerability to hotwiring and theft has created an unreasonable and well-documented risk to safety on U.S. roads;
- Surging thefts of unsafe Hyundai and Kia vehicles have consumed law enforcement and emergency responder resources; and
- The companies’ response through a phased and voluntary service campaign is insufficient to protect drivers and the general public.
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Kia later released a statement on the concerns of the coalition of attorneys general.
"Kia remains very focused on this issue and we continue to take action to address the concerns these Attorneys General have raised. We are committed to working with them and law enforcement agencies across their respective states to combat car theft and the role social media has played in encouraging it. To address these crimes, we continue to roll out a free, enhanced security software upgrade to restrict the unauthorized operation of vehicle ignition systems and we are also providing steering wheel locks for impacted owners at no cost to them.
To date, Kia has contacted over two million owners and lessees of Kia vehicles to let them know of the availability of the software upgrade, and more than 165,000 eligible customers have already had the upgrade installed. Furthermore, in addition to supplying more than 39,000 free steering wheel locks to over 275 law enforcement agencies across the country for distribution to impacted Kia owners, we have shipped nearly 8,000 locks directly to impacted owners as well. We will continue to provide additional free locks as they are needed.
Kia owners with questions may contact our Customer Care team directly at 1-800-333-4542 (4Kia) or the special section of the Owner’s Portal at Kia.com to research software upgrade eligibility and availability and receive more information on ordering a steering wheel lock if applicable at https://ksupport.kiausa.com/ConsumerAffairs/SWLD.
All Kia vehicles are subject to and comply fully with the requirements outlined in applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, including FMVSS 114 that governs theft protection measures. Additionally, because there is no defect in the security features in any of these vehicles and because these specific models comply fully with all applicable federal standards, a recall is neither appropriate nor necessary under federal law."
Hyundai also later released a statement on the concerns of the coalition of attorneys general.
"Hyundai Motor America is committed to ensuring the quality and integrity of our products. A subset of Hyundai vehicles on the road in the U.S. today – primarily “base trim” or entry-level models – are not equipped with push-button ignitions and immobilizing anti-theft devices. It is important to clarify that an engine immobilizer is an anti-theft device and these vehicles are fully compliant with federal anti-theft requirements. Thieves discovered a specific method by which to bypass the vehicles’ security features and then documented and promoted their exploits on TikTok and other social media channels.
In response, Hyundai has taken comprehensive action to assist our customers, including: (1) made engine immobilizers standard on all vehicles produced as of November 2021; (2) fully rolled out a free software upgrade to prevent the method of theft involved, two months ahead of schedule; (3) introduced a program in partnership with AAA insurers to offer insurance options in most states for eligible affected Hyundai customers; (4) initiated a program to reimburse affected customers for their purchase of steering wheel locks; (5) launched https://hyundaiantitheft.com/ to provide owners with information on all of the support options available and created a dedicated customer service support team and call center, 888-498-0390, to assist impacted owners.
Hyundai is committed to continuing our efforts in completing the software upgrade for all affected vehicles in the most effective manner possible. We are communicating with NHTSA on our many actions to assist our customers."
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