Kia, Hyundai sued after viral TikTok challenge causes rise in thefts

Kia and Hyundai did not comment on the lawsuit, "but did say that immobilizers became standard on their vehicles after Nov 1, 2021", according to the report

PGurus Newsdesk

September 22, 2022

Kia and Hyundai did not comment on the lawsuit, "but did say that immobilizers became standard on their vehicles after Nov 1, 2021", according to the report

Kia, Hyundai face national class-action in Orange County federal court over TikTok challenge

The trending TikTok challenge exposed the defect in cars, after which the automaker Hyundai and its subsidiary Kia have been sued in the US. The TikTok challenge brought forth the defect, resulting in vehicle thefts soaring across the country. These car models were equipped with traditional key engines, rather than keyless fobs.

A class-action lawsuit was filed in federal court in Orange County, California, alleging that Kias built between 2011 and 2021 and Hyundai cars built from 2015 to 2021 were “deliberately” built without “engine immobilizers“, reports TechCrunch.

According to the lawsuit, Kia and Hyundai previously looked into the efficacy of building with engine immobilizers and decided against it, “blatantly valuing profits over the safety and security of their customers”.

It alleged that the automakers didn’t make an effort to even warn customers of the risk of theft after a TikTok “Kia Challenge”, that publicized a technique for stealing certain makes and models of Kia and Hyundai vehicles.

The challenge arrived on TikTok first and then on YouTube in July, and police in several cities in the US reported a serious rise in car thefts.

Kia and Hyundai did not comment on the lawsuit, “but did say that immobilizers became standard on their vehicles after November 1, 2021“, according to the report.

“With the massive rise in the publicity of the defect, it is unlikely that the thefts will stop without active intervention by Kia or Hyundai,” according to the lawsuit.

“An entire criminal ecosystem has materialized; exacerbated by thefts only further fuelled by TikToks, videos, and memes promoting the criminal behaviour,” it read.

[With Inputs from IANS]

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