States led by CA AG ask for recall of Hyundai, Kia ‘theft-prone’ vehicles

California Attorney General Rob Bonta led a coalition of 18 states calling for a federal recall of Hyundai (HYMTF) and Kia (KIMTF) vehicles following what they call "the companies’ continued failure to take adequate steps to address the alarming rate of theft of their vehicles." The letter, sent to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, requests NHTSA "to institute a recall of unsafe Hyundai and Kia vehicles manufactured between 2011 and 2022 whose easily bypassed ignition switches and lack of engine immobilizers make them particularly vulnerable to theft. In March 2023, a coalition of attorneys general urged the companies to take stronger steps to address the safety concerns of their vehicles. This letter now calls on the federal government to step in, as the vehicles’ systems remain out of compliance with federal standards and pose an unreasonable risk to public safety, and the companies have failed to address these safety issues." The coalition asserts that Kia and Hyundai have not gone far enough in their attempts to remedy their vehicles’ vulnerability to theft. While the companies have offered a software upgrade, this upgrade will not be available for many affected vehicles until June and for some 2011-2022 models cannot be installed at all. Vehicle owners who cannot receive the software upgrade can reportedly receive a free steering wheel lock from Kia and Hyundai, but this places additional burdens on owners and does not address the underlying ignition system flaw that makes the vehicles so vulnerable to theft, the coalition says. Reference Link