Rising Kia and Hyundai Car Thefts in US Cities.

Car thefts of Hyundai and Kia vehicles continue to rise in several US cities despite the introduction of a software fix earlier this year. The root of the problem is that Hyundai and Kia originally built these vehicles without immobilizers, making it easy to start the car with basic hand tools and a USB cable used as an ersatz key to turn the ignition barrel. The companies have released a software fix that will prevent easy thefts, but the rollout of the fix is slow going, with just 5% and 6% of Kia and Hyundai vehicles respectively having had the update installed.