Attorney General Ellison leads multistate settlement with Hyundai and Kia for sales of vehicles lacking industry-standard, anti-theft technology

Hyundai and Kia will offer free hardware fix for all affected vehicles to thwart further thefts and protect public safety; carmakers estimate cost of fix could exceed $500M

Hyundai and Kia’s knowing failure to include industry-standard anti-theft technology created conditions for epidemic of car thefts in Minnesota and across U.S.

Eligible consumers to receive notice of hardware fix in early 2026, will have one year from receipt of notice to have fix installed; consumers who previously received inadequate software fix also eligible for hardware fix

AG Ellison: Kia and Hyundai ‘put their profits ahead of people’s safety’

December 16, 2025 (SAINT PAUL) — Minnesota Attorney General Ellison announced today that he has led a bipartisan coalition of 35 attorneys general in reaching a settlement with automobile manufacturers Hyundai and Kia for their sale of millions of vehicles nationwide that lack industry-standard, anti-theft technology. Hyundai and Kia’s knowing failure to provide this standard technology created the conditions for an epidemic of car thefts that were used in the commission of other crimes and in some cases led to deaths in Minnesota and across the country. Under the settlement, Hyundai and Kia will:

• Offer free zinc-reinforced ignition cylinder protectors to owners or lessees of eligible vehicles, including vehicles that previously were only eligible for the companies’ software updates;
• Equip all future vehicles sold in the United States with industry-standard, engine immobilizer anti-theft technology;
• Provide up to $4.5 million in restitution to eligible consumers whose cars are damaged by thieves; and
• Pay $4.5 million to the states to defray the costs of the investigation.

The zinc-reinforced ignition cylinder protector prevents thieves from accessing the ignition assembly to steal the car. According to estimates from Hyundai and Kia, the cost of installing the ignition cylinder protectors on all eligible vehicles could exceed $500 million.

Eligible consumers will have one year from the date of notice from the companies to make an appointment to have the zinc-reinforced ignition cylinder protector installed at their local Hyundai or Kia authorized dealerships. Those notices are expected to go out in the first few months of 2026. Attorney General Ellison strongly urges consumers to schedule the installation of the zinc-reinforced ignition cylinder protector as soon as they receive their notices.

This settlement resolves an investigation of the carmakers that Attorney General Ellison announced in March 2023. Minnesota was the first state to announce a statewide investigation of Kia and Hyundai for their knowing failure to include industry-standard anti-theft technology in their vehicles.

“Maintaining public safety means holding people who commit crimes accountable, but it also means holding corporations accountable when their greed helps criminals harm the people of Minnesota,” said Attorney General Ellison. “By failing to include industry-standard anti-theft technology in their vehicles, Hyundai and Kia unleashed a wave of auto thefts that cost Minnesotans their cars, their hard-earned money, and sometimes even their lives. In short, they put their profits ahead of people’s safety. 

“Minnesota was the first state to investigate Kia and Hyundai’s knowing failure to act, and I’m proud to have led this bipartisan coalition of states in reaching this significant nationwide settlement. It shows once again that in addition to holding individual offenders accountable for criminal acts in the criminal-justice system, attorneys general can use their broad authority in civil law to hold corporations accountable for upstream actions or inactions that harm the safety of the public. I have used this civil authority before and I will not hesitate to use it again,” Attorney General Ellison concluded. "I’m grateful to all the states that joined our coalition and to the attorneys general of Connecticut and New Hampshire, who co-led this investigation."

"While mayors and police departments were trying to get a handle on rising crime, Kia and Hyundai made the problem even worse by taking shortcuts that made stealing cars easy,” said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. “Minneapolis residents and police officers paid the price. The concessions that Attorney General Ellison has won in this settlement will give Minneapolis drivers more peace of mind and help us further reduce crime in our city."

“The manufacturer’s lack of urgency and their desire to save money inexcusably prolonged this crisis,” said Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara. “Today’s settlement is a significant step forward and reflects what Kia and Hyundai should have done years ago. I am thankful for the leadership of our Attorney General, Keith Ellison, to hold the manufacturers accountable.”

Many of Hyundai and Kia’s vehicles lacked industry standard anti-theft technology

Hyundai and Kia chose not to include anti-theft “engine-immobilizer” technology in millions of their vehicles sold throughout the United States, including in Minnesota. An engine immobilizer prevents thieves from starting a vehicle’s engine without the vehicle’s “smart” key, which stores the vehicle’s electronic security code. By failing to equip their vehicles with immobilizers, Kia and Hyundai lagged behind industry standards. For example, according to one report, in 2015, only 26% of the vehicles Kia and Hyundai sold in the United States were equipped with engine immobilizers, compared to 96% of the vehicles sold by other manufacturers.

States across the country, including Minnesota, have experienced a drastic increase in Hyundai and Kia vehicle thefts

Car thieves devised a quick and simple way to access these vehicles’ ignition cylinders and start these cars without a key, which quickly went viral, leading to a drastic increase in Kia and Hyundai vehicle thefts throughout the nation. The impacts on Minnesota were dramatic. In 2022, 3,293 Hyundai or Kia vehicles were stolen in the Twin Cities. The year before, that number was just 384. Minneapolis saw an 836% increase in thefts of these vehicles from 2021 to 2022, while Saint Paul saw a 611% increase.

In 2020, Hyundai and Kia vehicles made up 3.8% of all vehicles stolen in Saint Paul. In 2021, they made up 5.0%. In 2022, that percentage skyrocketed to 30.5% and in 2023, to 33.5%. In 2024 and 2025, the percentage was 21.8% and 22% respectively, a percentage still far in excess of the overall percentage of Hyundai and Kia ownership.

This dramatic increase is attributable to viral social-media videos by the Kia Boys, a group of young people who showed how easy it is to steal Kias and Hyundais. The Kia Boys also started a trend of young people stealing vehicles to gain social status and social capital.

Not only did the number of thefts explode, but many of the vehicles were used in connection with other crimes and were involved in many traffic collisions, some fatal. In Minneapolis alone, in 2022, Kia and Hyundai vehicle thefts were tied to five homicides, 13 shootings, 36 robberies, and 265 motor vehicle accidents. These are not just numbers; they represent a public safety crisis that has caused substantial and serious harm to the people of Minnesota.

Hyundai and Kia’s slow response to the public safety crisis

Hyundai and Kia were slow to respond to the crisis, waiting until 2023 to launch a service campaign to update the software on many affected vehicles. Hyundai and Kia also offered to install a zinc-reinforced ignition cylinder protector, but only for the roughly twenty percent of their vehicles that were ineligible for this software update. While the companies claimed that the software update blocked the viral theft method, the states alleged that thieves could, and often did, bypass the software update to continue stealing these cars.

The settlement secures availability of zinc-reinforced ignition cylinder protectors for all affected vehicles

Attorney General Ellison, the first attorney general to launch a state investigation of Hyundai and Kia’s failure, led a bipartisan coalition of 35 attorneys general in pressing Hyundai and Kia to do more to protect consumers. Through this nationwide settlement, Attorney General Ellison has ensured that all consumers with eligible vehicles can have zinc-reinforced ignition cylinder protectors installed on their vehicles free of charge. This includes consumers who previously received the software update. 

A list of the makes and model years of vehicles eligible for installation of the ignition cylinders is below.

Eligible consumers will have one year from the date of notice from the companies to make an appointment to have the zinc-reinforced ignition cylinder protector installed at their local Hyundai or Kia authorized dealerships. Those notices are expected to go out in the first few months of 2026. Attorney General Ellison strongly urges consumers to schedule the installation of the zinc-reinforced ignition cylinder protector as soon as they receive their notices.

In addition, consumers who previously had the software update installed on their vehicles (or were scheduled to do so) but nonetheless experienced a theft or attempted theft of their vehicle on or after April 29, 2025, are eligible to file a claim for restitution for certain theft and attempted-theft related expenses. For more information about eligibility and how to submit a claim for compensation from Hyundai or Kia, please visit:

www.HKMultistateImmobilizerSettlement.com

Vehicles eligible to have zinc-reinforced ignition cylinder protectors installed at no cost include all Model Year 2011-2022 Hyundai and Kia vehicles that were not factory-equipped with Engine Immobilizers, including:

Joining Attorney General Ellison in leading the bipartisan coalition of states were the attorneys general of Connecticut and New Hampshire; they were assisted by the attorneys general of California, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Nevada, and Washington. Joining the final settlement are the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wisconsin. 

Attorney General Ellison continues to hold corporations accountable for harming public safety

Attorney General Ellison continues use civil law to hold corporations accountable for harming public safety.

Individuals who commit criminal acts should be held accountable for those acts in the criminal-justice system. The Attorney General is an active partner in criminal prosecution in Minnesota: the Criminal Division of the Attorney General’s Office assists county attorneys across Minnesota upon their request in prosecuting individuals who have committed serious violent crimes and has a long track record of winning convictions.

At the same time, when corporations create conditions that contribute to harming public safety, then refuse to rectify those conditions when they become aware of them, they should also be held accountable. Holding corporations civilly accountable is not a substitute for criminally prosecuting individuals who harm others; rather, it complements criminal prosecution by holding corporate actors farther upstream accountable for their role in creating conditions that harm the safety of the public and facilitate individual criminal acts.

Attorney General Ellison’s settlement with Hyundai Kia is the latest example of his pioneering use of civil law to complement criminal prosecution in holding actors accountable for harming public safety. Other examples include:

• Attorney General Ellison’s October 2022 lawsuit against gun retailer Fleet Farm for negligently selling firearms to straw purchasers. In June 2023, the court upheld the entirety of the lawsuit against Fleet Farm, which will be ready for trial in 2026.
• Attorney General Ellison’s December 2024 lawsuit against gun manufacturer Glock, Inc. for manufacturing, marketing, and selling semi-automatic handguns that Glock knows can easily be converted into illegal machine guns with a device known as a “Glock switch.” In August 2025, Attorney General Ellison defeated Glock’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. 
• Attorney General Ellison’s 2022-23 investigation into whether Merwin Liquor and Winner Gas Station in Minneapolis were maintaining or permitting an unlawful public nuisance on their properties. Both locations had been the sites of numerous acts of gun violence and had been described as “one of the city’s largest open-air drug bazaars.” This investigation prompted important changes that led to a dramatic reduction in drug sales and gun violence outside these businesses.