The Hyundai logo is displayed on the all-new Hyundai Santa Fe SUV at a Hyundai dealership on April 7, 2017 in Colma, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Hyundai and Kia offer more anti-theft software upgrades drivers after the TikTok trend revealed how easy it is to steal older models. Automakers are also stepping up efforts to ensure more qualified owners are protected.
In some cases, it’s as simple as using a USB cable and a screwdriver. According to various reports, this trend emerged in 2021 and led to an increase in car thefts.
In a statement to FOX Business, Hyundai said the company is committed to taking comprehensive action to help customers who have been affected by persistent thefts of certain vehicles manufactured between 2011 and 2022 that do not have an ignition switch and engine immobilizer.
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“Hyundai has responded with extensive initiatives to increase the safety of non-immobilized vehicles still in circulation,” the company said. “Chief among these measures is the development and validation of a free software upgrade for owners of these vehicles to prevent a theft method popular on social media.”
Hyundai announced on its website that nearly 4 million vehicles are eligible for a software upgrade that “modifies certain vehicle control modules on Hyundai vehicles equipped with standard turnkey ignition systems.”
Moving forward, locking the car’s doors will set the factory alarm and activate what the company calls an “ignition kill” feature, so the car can’t be started “when subjected to popularized theft mode.”
For vehicles that cannot accept the software upgrade, Hyundai will install ignition cylinder guards free of charge.
To augment its efforts, the company has launched multi-day mobile software installation clinics in more than a dozen cities across the country, including Washington, DC, New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, Los Angeles and Seattle. The company said it plans to continue these efforts in additional markets as it seeks to accelerate the installation of these anti-theft protections.
Hyundai has provided free anti-theft solutions to more than 1.2 million affected vehicles since March 15.
In December, Kia America also unveiled another security measure “to support its customers in responding to criminals who use theft methods popularized on social media to steal or attempt to steal certain vehicle models.”
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The company said the new hardware, the ignition cylinder guard, will prevent “its removal via the theft method promoted in videos that have spread on social media encouraging criminal activity.”
The upgrade does not qualify for the security software upgrade that Kia introduced last summer.
In August 2023, the company held a free anti-theft software upgrade event at the Atlanta Civic Center in Atlanta where eligible owners received a free steering wheel lock to help make the vehicle more difficult to steal.
Kia also gave the Atlanta Police Department a large amount of free steering wheel locks to distribute to Kia owners who did not qualify for the software upgrade.
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