COLUMBUS — Kia and Hyundai have agreed to pay the City of Columbus $1 million to settle a 2023 lawsuit accusing the automakers of selling vehicles with substandard anti-theft technology, a defect the city says fueled a surge in car thefts and strained police resources.
The settlement, announced Friday, resolves claims filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. Columbus City Council is expected to approve the agreement at its Sept. 28 meeting, and the money would go into the city’s general fund.
“Kia and Hyundai cut corners and sold cars to customers they knew weren’t up to industry standards,” Columbus City Attorney Zach Klien said in a news release. “Taxpayers and the City should not foot the bill to pay for the problems these corporations created.”
The lawsuit centered on roughly 9 million Kia and Hyundai vehicles built from 2011 through 2022 without electronic immobilizers, devices that prevent a car from starting unless they detect the correct key signal. The missing technology made the vehicles unusually easy to steal with common tools such as USB cables or screwdrivers.
The thefts spread rapidly on social media, where groups of mostly teenage thieves — dubbed the “Kia Boys” — posted videos of joyrides in stolen cars. In September 2023, more than half of the vehicles stolen in Columbus that year were Kias or Hyundais, according to previously reported city data.
Both automakers have since rolled out free anti-theft software upgrades and offered owners free steering wheel locks. The companies previously agreed to pay about $200 million to vehicle owners in 2023 to settle a separate class-action lawsuit over the thefts.
