U.S. state attorneys general target #kiaboyz in letter to automakers

A group of 23 U.S. state attorneys general penned a letter to Hyundai Motor and Kia Monday, urging the carmakers to take swift action against the latest spike in thefts caused by a security design flaw.

The letter criticized the Korean automakers’ countermeasures as lacking and demanded immediate software updates and other means of compensation.

“Kia and Hyundai need to step up to address the scourge of theft of vehicles they manufactured without anti-theft immobilizers,” Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul wrote in the letter.

These companies must to “do everything in your power to accelerate the implementation of the software upgrade and to provide free alternative protective measures for all those owners whose cars cannot support the software upgrade.”

Kaul is leading a coalition of 23 attorneys general including from the states of Arizona, California, Illinois, New York, and Washington.

The number of thefts involving vehicles from Hyundai and Kia has been skyrocketing in the United States since August, driven by the rapid spread of videos on social media that detail how to steal such vehicles using everyday tools.

The thieves upload videos offering step-by-step instructions with tags such as #kiaboyz or #kiachallenge.

In the videos, they remove the plastic that covers the keyholes and start the engines with USB charging cables. The whole process can be completed in as little as thirty seconds.

The stolen cars are reported to be Kia models produced between 2011 and 2021 and Hyundai models from 2015 to 2021 that do not have an engine immobilizer function, which is an electronic security system that prevents the engine from being started unless the driver has the correct key.

According to Kaul, there were 6,970 Kia and Hyundai vehicles reported stolen in Milwaukee, the largest city in Wisconsin in 2021, an 800 percent jump from 2020.

Thefts of Hyundais and Kias in Minneapolis, the largest city in Minnesota, surged by 836 percent in 2022 compared to the previous year.

Hyundai and Kia in February announced that they will offer free software upgrades to roughly 8.3 million vehicles in the United States. They are Elantra sedans produced between 2017 and 2022, Sonata sedans produced between 2015 and 2019 and Venue SUVs between 2020 and 2021.

A total of 2.1 million vehicles have been upgraded thus far, Hyundai said.

“We are scheduled to contact over 2 million such owners and lessees by the end of March,” Kia America wrote in a statement Monday.

“In addition to this upgrade, we have already provided more than 23,000 steering wheel locks to over 120 law enforcement agencies across the country for them to distribute — at no cost — too impacted owners.”

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]