City officials in Milwaukee say they're considering a lawsuit against Hyundai and Kia over a soaring number of thefts that mostly involve vehicles sold by those brands.
Brew Town is on pace to top 10,000 vehicle thefts this year — double last year's total and triple that of 2019 — with Hyundais and Kias accounting for two-thirds of them, TV station WISN reported. That means the Korean models have been vanishing at a rate of nearly 20 a day.
"Kia and Hyundai are driving our auto theft numbers citywide," Milwaukee Police Chief of Staff Nick DeSiato said.
Police think Hyundais and Kias are being disproportionately targeted because they don't have engine immobilizers, which make vehicles harder to start without a key. Officials contacted the automakers this year, and the companies agreed to give free steering-wheel locks to any owners who live, work or attend school in the city, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Hyundai and Kia also told the city they were making engine immobilizers standard on all vehicles starting with the 2022 model year.
But city leaders are still pretty cheesed off, saying last week that they may sue Hyundai and Kia under public nuisance laws. The automakers already are defendants in a class-action suit filed in Milwaukee federal court on behalf of Kia and Hyundai owners.
As for why the brands' models are being taken more frequently in Milwaukee than elsewhere, officials aren't sure. They said Denver is the only other major U.S. city where Hyundai and Kia dominate the list of most-stolen models.
