Hyundai and Kia to Pay $200 Million Settlement for Car Thefts

Kia and Hyundai have agreed to pay around $200 million to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing them of producing vehicles that have been especially vulnerable to theft. The settlement affects the owners of about nine million vehicles and comes as the nation contends with a surge in auto thefts fueled in part by videos on TikTok and YouTube that demonstrate the ease in which Kia and Hyundai vehicles can be stolen. The automakers failed to equip several models from 2011 through 2022 with an immobilizer, a common anti-theft device that “prevents most vehicles from being started unless a code is transmitted from the vehicle’s smart key.”