Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is facing mockery and backlash after filing a lawsuit against Kia and Hyundai over claims that they have not done enough to prevent car theft in the city. According to the suit filed last week, Johnson’s office is alleging that Chicago’s historically high crime rates are due to automakers’ failure to install proper anti-theft measures in their vehicles.
Mayor Johnson’s lawsuit claims that Hyundai and Kia (which is owned by Hyundai but functions as an independent company) have not put “vital anti-theft technology” like “industry-standard engine immobilizers” into their vehicles despite advertising advanced safety features.
“The impact of car theft on Chicago residents can be deeply destabilizing, particularly for low-to-middle income workers who have fewer options for getting to work and taking care of their families,” Johnson said in a statement. “The failure of Kia and Hyundai to install basic auto-theft prevention technology in these models is sheer negligence, and as a result, a citywide and nationwide crime spree around automobile theft has been unfolding right before our eyes.”
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Engine immobilizers, which prevent theft by requiring an encrypted signal from the key fob to start the car, are common in US-made vehicles but are lacking in many Kia and Hyundai models. There have been more than 19,000 vehicle thefts in Chicago in 2023 alone, a 104% increase from last year according to the Chicago Police Department. Johnson’s office reports that 8,800 (or 41%) of those stolen vehicles were Kias and Hyundais despite those models only making up 7% of the cars in the city.
Johnson further alleges that “offenders have used stolen Kia and Hyundai vehicles to commit other crimes, including reckless driving, armed robbery, and murder” and is seeking damages from the two companies.
Chicago is not the first city to launch a suit on this issue. After a TikTok video showing an easy way to hotwire Kias and Hyundais went viral, New York City and Milwaukee both filed lawsuits against the companies over the lack of safety features.
However, critics of Johnson’s administration were quick to point out that the suit does little to address the underlying problem of crime in Chicago. Democratic Alderman Raymond Lopez mocked the mayor in an interview with Fox News, saying that the lawsuit is a “play from a socialist playbook.”
“Clearly, we don’t have a crime problem. We have a Kia problem in the city of Chicago, according to Mayor Johnson,” Lopez said on Monday. “The numbers speak for themselves. 104% increase from last year, a 234% increase in vehicle thefts from two years ago, but yet it’s the car’s fault.”
“We know why they’re stealing these cars. We know what they’re doing with these cars, but the fact that we refuse to call out this behavior, and we’re giving cover to the criminals, seems to just be another liberal ploy,” he continued. “And to be perfectly honest, a page from the socialist playbook, because we’re blaming the manufacturer of the cars rather than the criminals on the street.”
Responding to the filing, a spokesperson for Hyundai said “Hyundai is committed to the comprehensive actions we are undertaking to assist customers and communities affected by the persistent theft of certain vehicles not equipped with push-button ignitions and engine immobilizers. Our dealers across the country are maximizing the number of anti-theft software installations that can be performed on a daily basis, contributing to steadily increasing completion rates, which we report to NHTSA weekly.”
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