ST. LOUIS–The city of St. Louis on Monday announced it has filed suit against Kia and Hyundai, demanding the automakers recall vehicles that have contributed to a large increase in auto thefts due to a vulnerability exposed in a viral social media challenge.
A TikTok social media challenge put a spotlight on some of the vehicles' lack of an immobilizer.
St. Louis joins other cities, including Seattle, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Buffalo, Madison and Milwaukee, in multidistrict litigation against the vehicle manufacturers.
The federal suit follows through on a threat of litigation that began last summer, when the St. Louis City Counselor sent an Aug. 19 letter to both Kia and Hyundai saying their vehicles have caused a “public safety crisis” in the City.
Motor vehicle thefts shot up 78% in St. Louis in 2022 with 7,366 reportedly stolen. According to the suit, between May of 2022 and February of 2023, the city took reports of 7, 341 vehicle thefts, a 128% increase and that in that same timeframe, there have been more than 4,500 reports of Kia or Hyundai thefts.
The suit also links those thefts to other crimes in the city, including:
A June 2022 shooting involving a stolen Hyundai Elantra and a stolen Kia Optima which damaged six other vehicles.
An August 2022 shootout involving a stolen Kia Optima and a stolen Hyundai Sonata that injured a 17-year-old.
The September 6, 2022 death of a bicyclist who was struck and killed by a speeding stolen Kia model.
The five count suit seeks an injunction to force the manufacturers to fix the vehicles, and at least $75,000 in damages on each count.
The automakers have said that their vehicles meet federal safety standards and that recent models now come standard with an immobilizer. Each have also taken steps to give steering wheel lock devices to police departments.
They have also started installing a software fix to the problem that will be fully rolled out by the end of June.
"Lawsuits against Kia by municipalities are without merit. Kia has been and continues to be willing to work cooperatively with law enforcement agencies in St. Louis to combat car theft and the role social media has played in encouraging it," Kia said in response to the St. Louis lawsuit, pointing to the steps already taken to notify approximately 1.5 million customers about the software update and the free installation, as well as sending nearly 1500 wheel locks to St. Louis area police departments. The company said it has distributed 27,000 wheel locks to police departments around the country.
Hyundai did not comment directly on the St. Louis lawsuit, but said Monday night it is "committed to ensuring the quality and integrity of our products," and pointed to similar efforts to provide a software upgrade to address the engine immobilizer issue, reimburse customers for the cost of steering wheel locks and giving free steering wheel locks to local law enforcement agencies.