Lawyers, states bring more heat on Hyundai, Kia

Attorneys representing unhappy owners of easily hot-wired Hyundais and Kias suing the automakers have asked Congress to initiate an inquiry into the matter.

In a letter this month to Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-WA, chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Jonathan Michaels, principal attorney for MLG Attorneys at Law of Costa Mesa, Calif., said auto thefts resulting from the absence of factory engine immobilizers on certain trims of Hyundai and Kia's vehicles spanning the 2016-2021 model years have infringed on public safety and strained law enforcement and first responders in affected cities.

The appeal for congressional involvement is part of an effort to turn up the heat on Hyundai and Kia to implement a voluntary recall of about 8.4 million vehicles.

Cantwell's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hyundai maintains that its vehicles are "fully compliant with federal anti-theft requirements," according to a spokesperson.

Kia also asserts that its vehicles "fully comply" and that a recall is "neither appropriate nor necessary under federal law" since no security defect in the vehicles exists.

A recall of the scope in question could cost the automakers as much as $5 billion, according to several attorneys on the case.

Although the sibling automakers say they are taking corrective actions to get owners' vehicles fixed, the drumbeat is getting louder.

This month, California Attorney General Rob Bonta and a coalition of 17 other AGs, including Minnesota's Keith Ellison and Michigan's Dana Nessel, sent a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration requesting the agency "institute a recall of unsafe Hyundai and Kia vehicles … whose easily-bypassed ignition switches and lack of engine immobilizers make them particularly vulnerable to theft."

The plea was backed by theft data that shows an 85 percent rise in thefts of Hyundais and Kias in Los Angeles in 2022. These vehicles made up 20 percent of all stolen cars in the city in 2022 compared with 13 percent in 2021. In Berkeley, thefts of Hyundais and Kias accounted for 38 percent of vehicle thefts since the end of 2022.

Bonta's letter also said vehicles without immobilizers represent an "unreasonable risk to public safety" and are taking a toll on local law enforcement and first responders.

Ellison, who in March announced an investigation into Hyundai's and Kia's sale of the affected vehicles to consumers in that state, said the stolen vehicles have been used in the "furtherance" of violent crimes, including five homicides, 13 shootings, 36 robberies and 265 motor vehicle accidents in Minneapolis alone.

A Kia spokesperson said in a statement that the company remains focused on this issue and continues to take action to address the concerns raised by the attorneys general.

Earlier this year, the city of Seattle, in Cantwell's home state, separately filed a suit against Hyundai and Kia in U.S. District Court in Seattle, citing a 363 percent rise in thefts of Hyundai vehicles and 503 percent increase in stolen Kias in 2022 compared with the previous year.

Eight other cities have taken the same step, including San Diego and Columbus, Ohio. All point to an extreme surge in theft of the affected vehicles.

Randy Shrewsberry, chief strategy officer for MLG Attorneys at Law of Costa Mesa, the lead firm in what is now a multidistrict litigation case against Hyundai and Kia, said that seeking congressional involvement could help spur the automakers to more action. He pointed out that congressional inquiries also influenced a General Motors ignition switch recall in 2014, Toyota Motor Corp.'s unintended acceleration recall of 2009-2011, and the multiyear Takata airbag recall.

"It's incumbent upon us to apply as much pressure from as many different directions to get the outcome we want, which is for Kia and Hyundai to make good on the problems that they've stepped around over the last year," Shrewsberry said.

In February, Kia and Hyundai introduced a software update that enhances the car alarm on affected vehicles as a way for owners to avert theft of their vehicles. The company estimated there are 8.4 million Hyundai and Kia vehicles that lack the theft-prevention device.

Hyundai later expedited the rollout of the software update, but Shrewsberry called Hyundai and Kia's overall approach to remedying the mounting issues "piecemeal."

In a statement, Hyundai said its action is "comprehensive," and, in addition to the software upgrade, includes making immobilizers standard on all vehicles built after November 2021, working with AAA to offer insurance options to owners in most states, initiating a program to reimburse affected customers for their purchase of steering wheel locks, and launching a dedicated website and call center for impacted owners.

Kia's efforts include providing 275 law enforcement agencies with over 40,000 steering wheel locks and shipping over 8,000 locks directly to consumers.

Meanwhile, a list of more than 65 vehicle insurance companies have filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court of Southern California against Hyundai and Kia, alleging that the automakers have increased the risk of property claims by not including the immobilizer as standard equipment. m