“GLA is driving our crime,” New York Mayor Eric Adams said, using an acronym for grand larceny of autos. The disturbing theft rate, which authorities nationally have linked to other crimes including at least 14 reported crashes and eight fatalities, has persisted despite the automakers’ unveiling of their anti-theft software campaign in mid-February. Police there reported 966 Hyundai and Kia thefts as of April 30 ‒ nearly seven times the number in the same period of 2022. In New York, the Hyundai-Kia theft problem has grown so worrisome that the city held a news conference last month to offer owners devices that can track their vehicles if they’re stolen. Videos on TikTok and other sites that illustrate how to start and steal Kia and Hyundai models ‒ using only a screwdriver and a USB cable ‒ have allowed the thefts to spread across the nation since late 2021. cities have reported that 60% or more of their auto theft reports now involve Hyundais or Kias. (Hyundai and Kia are part of the same South Korean corporate family.)

The figures for early 2023, as calculated by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, will be released later this year. The most recent nationwide numbers on Hyundai and Kia thefts aren’t yet publicly available. 'Crisis of thefts': 23 attorneys general demand Kia, Hyundai take action How many Hyundais and Kias have been stolen? “We have some weeks where nearly as many Kias and Hyundais are stolen in a week as had previously been stolen in a year.” “The scope of the problem is only expanding and is exponentially worse than it has been in the past,” Brian O’Hara, the police chief of Minneapolis, said in an email. So far this year, Minneapolis police have received 1,899 Kia and Hyundai theft reports, nearly 18 times the number for the same period in 2022. An eighth city, Denver, which was hit early by the theft outbreak, reported a 23% decline from 2022 levels but still endured a high number of thefts. Louis to New York, Seattle, Atlanta and Grand Rapids, Michigan, police have reported substantial year-over-year increases in Hyundai and Kia theft reports through April. cities gathered by The Associated Press shows that the number of Hyundai and Kia thefts is still growing despite the companies’ efforts to fix the glitch, which makes 8.3 million vehicles relatively easy targets for thieves.įrom Minneapolis, Cleveland and St. Across the country, thieves are still driving off with the vehicles at an alarming rate.ĭata from seven U.S.

Nearly three months ago, Hyundai and Kia unveiled software that was designed to thwart an epidemic of thefts of their vehicles, caused by a security flaw that was exposed on TikTok and other social media sites.

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