Hyundai and Kia thefts deterred by software upgrade

Hyundai and Kia vehicles with keyed ignitions instead of pushbutton starts have been besieged by thieves in a viral trend, but a software upgrade offered to owners has cut rates of these thefts by more than half, the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) reported on Wednesday.

Staring during the pandemic, a spike in thefts due in part to social media videos showing how to hot wire the turn-key ignition systems in certain vehicles (mostly older, entry-level models), Hyundai and Kia released a software upgrade in February 2023 that prevents vehicles from starting without the owner’s key or an identical copy. Hyundai and Kia also gave out window stickers aimed at deterring potential thieves.

Roughly two dozen 2011-2022 Hyundai and Kia models are eligible for the upgrade. Of those that received it as of December 2023—30% of eligible Hyundais and 28% of eligible Kias—theft claim frequencies were 53% lower than vehicles that didn’t receive the upgrade, according to the HLDI, which is the research arm of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). That includes claims for vehicles that were stolen and recovered, as well as claims for parts or items stolen from vehicles.

The rates of claims in which stolen vehicles were not recovered fell by an even larger amount. The frequency of whole vehicle theft—which the HLDI defines as claims in which owners are payed the same amount as insurers pay if the same model is totaled in a crash—fell by 64% with the software upgrade.

Hyundai and Kia have continued to upgrade vehicles to make them more theft-resistant. While the study period ended in December 2023, the automakers reported that they had upgraded 60% of eligible vehicles by July 2024. The need to offer this upgrade stems from the fact that many Hyundai and Kia models were built without engine immobilizers. Just 17% of 2011 models had them, compared to 92% of 2011 models from other brands, according to the HLDI. And some models were ineligible for the upgrade because they lack alarm systems.

Theft claim frequency also remains high, even for models that have received the upgrade, according to HLDI, which theorizes that owners may be forgetting to lock cars with the key fob rather than a switch on the door handle. Claims for theft of items in cars and vandalism were elevated as well, the latter possible the result of failed theft attempts.

The Hyundai Elantra, Hyundai Sonata, and Kia Optima sedans were the three most stolen vehicles in the U.S. in 2023, according to an annual report released earlier this year by the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB). But HLDI analysts believe the Hyundai/Kia theft trend has peaked.

“We expect claim rates for Hyundai and Kia vehicles to gradually drop back in line with those of other brands, as thieves learn they’re no longer so easy to steal and the fad gets stale,” Matt Moore, senior vice president of the HLDI, said in a statement.