Hyundai and Kia thefts are up across the country thanks to the dumb trend of instruction videos showing how to steal cars going around social media. Some cities are being hit harder than others. While Hyundai finally released a fix owners have to pay for, some cities are taking more serious steps. WION news reports that the city of St. Louis Missouri is planning to take legal action against Hyundai and Kia over the vehicle thefts.
It’s bad in St. Louis. Up through August 2022, over 1,800 vehicles had been stolen in the city; 1,200 of those were just in July and August. City officials say that in July, some 21 Hyundai/Kia vehicles were stolen a day.
City Counselor Sheena Hamilton issued a letter/statement showing her frustration about the thefts in the city.
With this letter, the city demands that Kia and Hyundai mitigate the defective conditions providing thieves, including teenagers as young as 13 – the instrumentalities by which they are destroying property, endangering city drivers and themselves, and, in some cases, committing violent felonies. Kia and Hyundai’s defective vehicles have caused a public safety crisis in the city, endangering the health, safety, and peace of all those who live, work or visit the city. Your companies bear the responsibility to mitigate the public nuisance your negligence has created for the city and its residents.
St. Louis mayor Tishaura Jones said there’s only one way for the company to avoid the suit. And it’s the exact thing that Hyundai/Kia won’t do: issue a recall.