Kia, Hyundai Vehicles Produced Without Immobilizers Class Action

This is yet another in a long line of class action against Kia America, Inc. and Hyundai America Technical Center, Inc., alleging that they put out vehicles over many years that do not contain immobilizers and that are therefore very easy to steal.

The Nationwide Class for this action is all individuals and entities in the US who bought or leased a 2011-2021 Kia or a 2015-2021 Hyundai. A New York Subclass has also been defined for those in the above class in New York.

Vehicles are required to have immobilizers, which are electronic devices that keep them from starting unless the right key is inserted in the ignition. The complaint quotes from Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 114: “Each vehicle must have a starting system which, whenever the key is removed from the starting system prevents: (a) The normal activation of the vehicle’s engine or motor; and (b) Either steering, or forward self-mobility, of the vehicle, or both.”

To steal one of the vehicles at issue, the complaint alleges, “a thief need only pop off a plastic cover on the steering column, plug a USB cable into the column, and turn it like any other key to start the engine…”

The knowledge of this vulnerability has become widespread, to the point where social media sites have videos with step-by-step instructions on how to do it. This has led, the complaint alleges, to “teenagers and children as young as 11 years old … stealing and joyriding [in] cars, and posting their exploits on social media[.]”

According to the complaint, these kind of thefts “account[] for nearly two-thirds of vehicle thefts in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Indeed, in the first six months of 2021 alone, Hyundai thefts in Milwaukee increased by 1,700% and Kia thefts increased by 3,200%.” Other cities have also experienced large increases in thefts of these vehicles as well.

Kia and Hyundai have known for years about the problem, the complaint alleges, but have not fixed the problem or installed immobilizers on the vehicles. “In fact,” the complaint alleges, “on information and belief, [Kia and Hyundai] concealed the defect from consumers or otherwise failed to disclose” that the their vehicles were at an increased risk of theft and property damage and that they have a lower resale value on the market.

Because of the increased damage to these vehicles, the complaint claims, “[r]epair shops and dealers cannot keep pace with the demand caused by the spike in” thefts, and some insurance companies are charging more to insure them or refusing to insure them at all.

While the companies have announced that new vehicles will have immobilizers, the complaint alleges that this will not help those who already own vehicles without them.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Automobile
Tags: Defective Automobile, Immobilizer