Kia, Hyundai face $1 billion in lawsuits over easy-to-steal cars after 9th Circuit ruling

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Set us as preferred American insurers can sue Korean car makers for payouts on thousands of stolen Kias and Hyundais, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday, directing a federal judge in Santa Ana to reopen a case seeking reimbursement for more than $1 billion in claims.The ruling is the latest legal blow to the automakers, which have already settled a $145-million class-action suit with car buyers and a $9-million case brought by state attorneys general related to claims that manufacturers dropped a key ignition safeguard on U.S.-bound models, flooding the market with easy-to-boost vehicles made famous by the so-called “Kia Boys” challenge that went viral on TikTok in 2022.The decision comes on the heels of a new UCLA study showing thefts of the automakers’ most vulnerable models will likely plague Los Angeles for years to come.

“We’re likely to be seeing elevated thefts of these cars through 2042,” said the study’s lead author, Jeffrey Brantingham, a UCLA anthropology professor.The theft-prone models lack a critical safeguard called an engine immobilizer pioneered in the mid-1980s, when more than 60,000 cars a year were stolen in Los Angeles alone.By the turn of the century, such devices were ubiquitous, joining airbags and antilock breaks as standard safety features.

“If there’s one thing that auto manufacturers have done to really reduce auto theft, it’s been the introduction of immobilizers,” Brantingham said.The technology was so universal that thieves didn’t notice at first when Kia dropped immobilizers from many of its American models in 2011, or when Hyundai did same five years later.

“If all cars have immobilizers, and you’re the one car that doesn’t, you can mostly slip under the radar,” Brantingham said.“[Thieves] didn’t know these Hyundai and Kia cars were easy to ste...