Kia, Hyundai Must Face US Cities’ Claims Cars Are Easy to Steal

Hyundai Motor America and Kia America Inc. must keep facing litigation by municipalities that blame insufficient security features for a rash of vehicle thefts that forced them to incur massive costs attributable to the resulting crime wave.

The municipalities raised viable negligence and public nuisance claims, the US District Court for the Central District of California said Nov. 17.

New York City, Cincinnati, and other cities alleged that design flaws in certain 2011–2022 Kia and Hyundai models make them easy to steal. These include the lack of an engine immobolizer—an electronic security device that makes it harder to start a ...