Thefts of Hyundai and Kia models are finally on the decline, according to research from the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI). This news comes after Hyundai and Kia models topped most-stolen car lists and made headlines over and over for being notoriously easy to steal.
Hyundai and Kia started offering a software upgrade in February 2023 that would keep the car from starting if the owner’s key or an identical duplicate wasn’t used in the ignition. For the vehicles that received said upgrade as of December 2023, theft claim frequencies are 53% lower than the vehicles that didn’t get the upgrade, according to HLDI data. Keep in mind that only about 30% of Hyundais and 28% of Kias that were eligible for the upgrade at that point in time had the fix. Today, that number is a lot better, as the companies claim 60% of all eligible cars had the upgrade as of mid-July 2024.
ZAC PALMER
https://www.autoblog.com/2024/08/07/hyundai-kia-vehicle-theft-rates-going-down-post-software-fix/
Hyundai and Kia started offering a software upgrade in February 2023 that would keep the car from starting if the owner’s key or an identical duplicate wasn’t used in the ignition. For the vehicles that received said upgrade as of December 2023, theft claim frequencies are 53% lower than the vehicles that didn’t get the upgrade, according to HLDI data. Keep in mind that only about 30% of Hyundais and 28% of Kias that were eligible for the upgrade at that point in time had the fix. Today, that number is a lot better, as the companies claim 60% of all eligible cars had the upgrade as of mid-July 2024.
ZAC PALMER
https://www.autoblog.com/2024/08/07/hyundai-kia-vehicle-theft-rates-going-down-post-software-fix/