After a rash of stolen cars, Hyundai and Kia's new anti-theft software is showing results

A Kia Forte at the New York International Auto Show in 2019. (Michael Brochstein / SOPA Images / LightRocket / Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

More than a year after Hyundai and Kia released new anti-theft software updates, thefts of vehicles with the new software are falling — even as thefts overall remain astoundingly high, according to a new analysis of insurance claim data.

The automakers released the updates starting last February, after a tenfold increase in thefts of certain Hyundai and Kia models in just the past three years — sparked by a series of social media posts that showed people how to steal the vehicles.

“Whole vehicle” theft claims — insurance claims for the loss of the entire vehicle — are 64 per cent lower among the Hyundai and Kia cars that have had the software upgrade, compared to cars of the same make, model and year without the upgrade, according to the Highway Loss Data Institute.

“The companies’ solution is extremely effective,” Matt Moore, senior vice president of HLDI, an industry group backed by auto insurers, said in a statement.

The cars in question are certain older Hyundai and Kia models made before 2023 that are particularly vulnerable to theft.  Less expensive versions of these vehicles were equipped with turn-key ignitions rather than a button-press to start, and they’re roughly twice as likely to be stolen as other vehicles of a similar age, according to the HLDI.

Many of these vehicles also lack some basic auto-theft prevention tech, such as electronic immobilizers, included in most other vehicles made the same years, says the HLDI. Immobilizers rely on a computer chip in the car and another in the key that communicate to confirm that the key is authentic and really belongs to that vehicle.

Between early 2020 and the first half of 2023, thefts of Hyundai and Kia models rose more than 1,000 per cent.

As part of a US$200 million settlement related to this issue, Hyundai and Kia — closely related car brands based in South Korea — began offering free anti-theft software upgrades for some of these older models in February 2023. So far, more than 2 million Hyundai and Kia vehicles have gotten the update, according to the automakers.

Thefts remain high

The HLDI looked at insurance claim data for calendar year 2023. By the end of that year, only about 30 per cent of vehicles eligible for the security software had it installed.

By now, around 61 per cent of eligible Hyundai vehicles have the software upgrade, a Hyundai spokesperson said. That said, not all of the vulnerable Hyundai and Kia models have the proper hardware to enable the software upgrade. For those vehicles that can’t get the software, Hyundai and Kia have been providing steering wheel locks.

And even with the new software these older Hyundai and Kia vehicles are still stolen and broken into more often than others, the HLDI found.

One reason may be that owners aren’t using the vehicles’ new security software correctly, Moore said. For the anti-theft software to work, the vehicle must be locked using a button on the key fob — not by turning the metal key in the door lock.

Hyundai and Kia theft rates will probably decline now that more vehicles are getting the security software, Moore said in an interview with CNN.

Plus, he added, the wave of Hyundai and Kia thefts was partly a fad spread through social media. Tik Tok and YouTube videos showed how easy it was to steal these vehicles, and many of the people doing it were not serious car thieves, he said.

“There are certainly news stories indicating that some off the people doing this are just doing it for fun,” said Moore. “It’s probably logical to assume that at some point…stealing these vehicles as a fad is going to burn out.”