Kia and Hyundai are facing a lawsuit from the City of Columbus over a wave of vehicle thefts that tore through local streets. The legal fight traces back to a February 2023 complaint by the Columbus City Attorney's Office, which accused the automakers of failing to equip certain models with adequate theft-prevention technology.
The original lawsuit was filed in February 2023, according to NBC4 WCMH-TV, which reported that the city's core complaint centered on missing engine immobilizers — technology designed to prevent a car from starting without the correct key or by bypassing the electronic ignition system. Columbus experienced an influx of car thefts in the years leading up to the suit, with Axios reporting that the design flaw was tied to roughly 10,000 vehicle thefts in Columbus between 2022 and 2023, per Axios.
City Attorney Zach Klein said nearly two-thirds of all local vehicle theft attempts over the previous year had targeted Kia or Hyundai models, the outlet's reporting shows. Car break-ins were also one of the only Columbus crime categories that increased in 2024, even as the broader wave of thefts nationally began to ease off.
How the Theft Wave Started
The surge traces back to instructional videos posted online in late 2020 by a group known as the Kia Boyz, which triggered a nationwide trend of Kia and Hyundai car theft, according to court records cited by caselaw.findlaw.com. Thefts of the affected vehicles then skyrocketed in the first half of 2021, the same filing states.
Hyundai has said engine immobilizers became standard on all vehicles it produced starting in November 2021, while Kia has said all 2022 models and trims received an immobilizer either at production or as a running change, per that same report. Kia and Hyundai announced in February 2023 that they would begin rolling out software upgrades for affected models. The nationwide spike in vehicle thefts eventually began to subside.
Cities Took Legal Action Over Theft Wave
Columbus was not alone in pursuing legal action — the city was among several municipalities, including Seattle, St. Louis and Baltimore, that sued Kia and Hyundai over the increased thefts, according to NPR.
Separately, Kia and Hyundai agreed to pay roughly $200 million in May 2023 to resolve a distinct consumer class-action settlement. That deal covered about 9 million U.S. owners and included up to $145 million for out-of-pocket losses, according to Reuters. That consumer settlement is separate from the municipal lawsuit Columbus filed against the automakers.
Other Cities Have Pursued Similar Claims
Columbus's case fits into a broader pattern of local governments taking Kia and Hyundai to court over the same alleged design flaw. More than two dozen municipal governments have pursued similar claims against the automakers, according to Hoodline's earlier reporting on a related settlement in Tennessee. Metro Nashville and other Davidson County cities filed their own 2024 lawsuit alleging public nuisance, negligence and gross negligence tied to the missing theft-prevention technology, and Metro Nashville's council was set to net $747,819 from a gross settlement of $1,222,242.35 after attorneys' fees. More than 1,700 Kia and Hyundai vehicles were stolen in Metro Nashville in 2023 alone, a 555% spike compared to 2022, that reporting found.
