Kia, Hyundai Must Confront Claims in Car Theft Casualty Lawsuits

Carmakers Kia Motors America Inc. and Hyundai Motor America Corp. were wrongly cleared of legal liability in lawsuits by victims of accidents caused by car thieves, a divided federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.

The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled 2-1 to reverse a lower court’s dismissal brought separately by the estates of Matthew P. Moshi and Donald Stretch. A jury could conclude the car companies should have known about decades of data linking car theft to accidents, because the data prompted federal anti-theft standards regulating the automakers, Judge Rachel S. Bloomekatz said.

If the Ohio Product ...