Attorney General Bonta Secures Settlement with Hyundai and Kia for Selling Easy-to-Steal Cars, Igniting National Crisis

Settlement includes additional compensation for theft-related costs to eligible consumers, free installation of anti-theft update on vulnerable vehicles 

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today, joined a bipartisan coalition of 35 attorneys general, announced a settlement with Kia America (Kia), Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai), and affiliated entities for selling millions of cars that contained significant security weaknesses, including a lack of industry-standard, anti-theft technology. These security failures made Hyundai and Kia vehicles easy to hotwire and steal, resulting in a surge of car thefts and joyriding across the country that continues to threaten public safety to this day. The settlement resolves allegations that the companies violated federal motor vehicle safety standards and California’s Unfair Competition Law. Under the proposed settlement, which is pending court review and approval, Hyundai and Kia have agreed to equip all future vehicles sold in the United States with appropriate anti-theft technology and offer ignition cylinder sleeve anti-theft updates, free of charge, to owners or lessees of eligible vehicles. The cylinder sleeve is a physical anti-theft device that prevents vehicle theft by the popular hotwiring method. The settlement also requires Hyundai and Kia to pay additional restitution to eligible consumers whose cars are damaged by thieves.

“Today, my office announced a settlement with Kia and Hyundai for failing to equip millions of cars with industry-standard, anti-theft technology. This led to an epidemic of car thefts that threatened public safety and disrupted the lives of Californians — and it was illegal,” said Attorney General Bonta. “My office stepped in, and as part of our settlement, Hyundai and Kia will install a free security update and further compensate eligible consumers who had their cars damaged by thieves. Cars are often one of the largest purchases a family will ever make — Californians shouldn’t have to worry that manufacturers are cutting corners that could put their purchase at risk.” 

From 2011 to 2022, Kia and Hyundai manufactured and sold cars with easily bypassed ignition locks and without anti-theft devices called engine immobilizers that were a standard feature in almost every other new car manufactured during that period, including the same Hyundai and Kia models sold in Canada and Europe. An engine immobilizer prevents thieves from starting a vehicle’s engine without the vehicle’s “smart” key, which stores the vehicle’s electronic security code. On social media, thieves shared videos demonstrating that even teenagers could exploit the security vulnerability to hotwire Hyundai and Kia cars and challenged others to steal them too. And steal they did: In Los Angeles, for instance, thefts of Hyundai and Kia cars increased by approximately 85% in 2022 and constituted approximately 20% of stolen cars in Los Angeles in 2022, up from 13% in 2021. In 2024, Hyundai and Kia models were the first, second, and fifth most commonly stolen vehicles nationwide. 

The preventable crisis posed a serious threat to public safety and placed higher demands on California’s law enforcement and other first responders. Not only did the number of thefts and attempted thefts of Hyundai and Kia vehicles explode, but many of the stolen vehicles were used in connection with other crimes and were involved in traffic collisions, some fatal. As a result of the security weakness in the vehicles, California consumers have had their vehicles stolen or rendered unusable, incurring significant costs for repairs, towing, and insurance deductibles, and costs associated with alternative transportation. Additionally, because of the security weakness, the resale value of their vehicles has plummeted. 

Hyundai and Kia were slow to respond to the crisis, waiting until 2023 to launch a service campaign to update the software on most of the affected vehicles. While the companies claimed that the software update was effective at preventing the viral theft method, the states alleged that the software update could be — and in fact was — easily bypassed by thieves, and pressed Hyundai and Kia to do more to protect consumers and their communities. 

Under the settlement announced today, Hyundai and Kia have agreed to:

• Equip all future vehicles sold in the United States with industry-standard, engine immobilizer anti-theft technology;
• Offer free zinc-reinforced ignition cylinder protectors to owners or lessees of eligible vehicles, including vehicles that previously were only eligible for the companies’ software updates;
• Provide up to $4.5 million in additional restitution to eligible consumers whose cars are damaged by thieves; and
• Pay $4.5 million to the states to defray the costs of the investigation.

Eligible consumers will be notified by the companies that they will have one year from the date of the notice to make an appointment to have the zinc-reinforced ignition cylinder protector installed at their local Hyundai or Kia authorized dealerships. Attorney General Bonta urges eligible consumers to schedule the installation of the zinc-reinforced ignition cylinder protector as soon as possible.

Consumers who previously received the software update on their vehicles (or were scheduled to do so) but nonetheless experienced a theft or attempted theft of their vehicle on or after April 29, 2025, are eligible to file a claim for compensation for certain theft and attempted-theft related expenses. This compensation is in addition to the monetary payment Hyundai and Kia agreed to provide through a private consumer class action. 

For more information about eligibility and how to submit a claim for compensation, please visit: www.HKMultistateimmobilizersettlement.com

In securing the settlement, Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys general of Connecticut, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Nevada,  Washington, Arizona, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wisconsin.