LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville Metro Government is suing two car manufacturers after a surge in vehicles thefts.
On Thursday, Mayor Craig Greenberg announced a lawsuit against Hyundai and Kia, which seeks to hold the automakers accountable for "placing profits over safety" by building and selling cars that are "dangerously easy to steal."
"Hyundai and Kia have cut corners, shifting part of the cost of their business onto Louisville and its citizens," Greenberg said. "This contributing to our city's public safety issues and simply put, it is unacceptable."
Crime in Louisville
Since 2022, Louisville has faced a rampant rise in theft of Hyundais and Kias. A viral trend on social media circulated last year showing how to steal the vehicles using nothing more than a USB cable.
On Thursday, Louisville Metro Police Lieutenant Matt Keller said 3,000 Hyundai and Kia vehicles have been reported stolen so far in 2023.
LMPD says more than 2,100 Hyundais and Kias were reported stolen from January to July 2023. That's about 11 cars a day. That's a major spike from that same time period in 2022, when police say they recorded just 260 thefts of these cars.
"Officers have found juveniles as young as 10 and 12 years old stealing the cars due to the poor security features," Keller said.
Last December, a 12-year-old was caught by LMPD behind the wheel of a stolen Kia. Earlier this year, an 18-year-old was killed in a hit-and-run crash involving a stolen Hyundai. Months later, a stolen Kia crashed into a Louisville daycare.
Greenberg said many of these crimes could have been prevented had the automakers installed proper anti-theft technology consistently used by most other motor companies.
Lack of anti-theft tech
In the complaint, the city alleges Hyundai and Kia are responsible for the rise in vehicle thefts due to a lack of industry-standard anti-theft technology. The suit specifically points to the lack of engine immobilizers.
They're security devices installed in cars to prevent them from being started unless the key matches. They've been the industry standard for years, but basic Hyundai and Kia models weren't consistently built with them until late 2021.
"By 2015, 96% of automobiles from other manufacturers had immobilizers," officials said, citing a 2021 report by the Highway Loss Data Institute. "Only 26% of 2015-model year Hyundais and Kias included immobilizers, leaving almost 75% of these vehicles unreasonably easy to steal."
According to LMPD, many of the stolen vehicles in the Metro were models made between 2011 and 2022.
On Thursday, Lt. Matt Keller said that Louisville, along with countless other cities across the U.S, has suffered as a result -- saying often times, these thefts lead to other violent crimes.
"We find teens joy riding, dumping the vehicles or even crashing them -- and sometimes these collisions are injuring other people, citizens and the juveniles themselves," Keller said.
City leaders say this also drains police resources that are badly needed elsewhere. That's on top of the existing officer shortage.
Louisville isn't the only city to take action against the two companies. Other major cities -- including New York City, Chicago, Seattle, Columbus, Cleveland and Indianapolis -- have filed similar litigation.
The city has hired two firms, Seattle-based Keller Rohrback LLP and Louisville-based Poppe Law Firm, to assist the Jefferson County Attorney's Office as outside counsel. Officials said the law firms are taking the case without an initial cost and would only be paid if funds are recovered.
"Louisville is taking this action to force Hyundai and Kia to do what is right -- fix the cars and address the effects of the crime wave that their failure to install immobilizer technology in the first place has caused our community," Jefferson County Attorney Mike O'Connell said.
Louisville Metro Government is seeking payment from Kia and Hyundai for their alleged role in the city's crime spike. They're also requesting existing car models be fixed to all have immobilizer equipment installed.
LMPD is also offering other preventative tools for car owners, including steering wheel locks to discourage thieves from even attempting to steal.
Mayor Greenberg is also encouraging gun owners to lock up their firearms. He says often times when these cars are stolen, guns found inside them are taken too.
Hyundai sent WHAS11 News a statement on Oct. 14 saying:
Hyundai is committed to the comprehensive actions we are undertaking to assist customers and communities affected by the persistent theft of certain vehicles not equipped with push-button ignitions and engine immobilizers. Our dealers across the country are maximizing the number of anti-theft software installations that can be performed on a daily basis, contributing to steadily increasing completion rates, which we report to NHTSA weekly.
Hyundai recently piloted mobile service centers in Washington, D.C. (Link), St. Louis County, MO (Link) and plans to replicate in additional markets through year-end to further scale and speed installation of the software upgrade.
We remain committed to ensuring the quality and integrity of our products, all of which are fully compliant with federal anti-theft requirements. Engine immobilizers are now standard on all Hyundai vehicles produced as of November 2021. Hyundai is committed to continuing our efforts in completing the software upgrade for all affected vehicles in the most effective manner possible. We are communicating with NHTSA on our many actions to assist our customers. For more information, please visit www.hyundaiantitheft.com.
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