Car thefts began to rise last summer in Baltimore, Cleveland, and other cities across the country. In fact, from December 2021 to December 2022, thefts increased by 50% in Atlanta and El Paso, Texas, doubled in Chicago, and tripled in Dayton, Ohio.
Some cities blamed automakers Kia and Hyundai for the rise in thefts. But Hyundai shifted the blame to social media.
In June 2022, videos from a group nicknamed the “Kia Boys” demonstrating how to start certain Kias and Hyundais using a USB charger went viral on TikTok. Since then, TikTok has removed these videos from its platform.
To understand why car thefts increased in 2022 while other types of crime fell, USAFacts compiled data from hundreds of police departments and requested more specific data on Kia and Hyundai thefts.
Where did the increase in car thefts begin?
One of the most cited car theft videos was filmed in Milwaukee. The city is often seen as the origin of the wave of thefts nationwide, as it was one of the first to experience a surge in stolen Kias and Hyundais. The thefts increased in November 2020 – nearly 18 months before the videos went viral – and continued to rise throughout 2021.
In 2021, police reported one stolen car for every 50 people, the highest rate in the country among major cities that provided data to the FBI. In April 2021, 71% of vehicles reported stolen in Milwaukee were Kias or Hyundais, up from 6% in 2019.
Where did Kia and Hyundai thefts increase last summer?
As the Kia Boys videos gained traction in June and July 2022, thefts surged in cities across the country, especially in the Midwest and Northwestern cities, including Portland and Seattle.
Chicago may be the best example of how quickly thefts grew. In the first half of 2022, the city had 551 Kias or Hyundais reported stolen. In the second half, 6,250 cars were stolen, a tenfold increase.
Higher used car prices, more remote schools, or less law enforcement have been suggested as reasons behind the rise in thefts. But in these cities, the sharp increases in thefts during the summer of 2022 – and the types of cars stolen – align more consistently with the spread of the videos on TikTok.
Kia and Hyundai thefts did not start to rise in Chicago until the summer of 2022, nearly a year after peaking in Milwaukee, just 90 miles away.
By December 2022, Kias and Hyundais accounted for at least 25% of all stolen cars in 12 of the 19 cities that shared model data with USAFacts.
The rising thefts of Kia and Hyundai vehicles are uneven across the country. Until last summer, Kias and Hyundais were a small percentage of car thefts – less than 10% in most places. By the end of 2022, they represented half of the stolen vehicles in several cities, while in others, they remained lower.
San Francisco and San Diego had lower proportions of Kia and Hyundai thefts than many other cities. But California was not immune to the Kia TikTok challenge. The Los Angeles Police Department issued a community alert in August, stating that Kia and Hyundai accounted for 20% of car thefts, up from 13% in 2021.
Fortunately, these patterns are not expected to persist. Hyundais built after November 2021 and Kias built in 2022 have engine immobilizers, which typically prevent vehicles from starting without a key. Some police departments distributed wheel locks. Automakers released software updates to try to make the cars harder to steal.
But the consequences remain. Some insurers have stopped issuing new policies for specific Kia and Hyundai models in certain areas. And several cities have filed lawsuits against the automakers, claiming they sold easily stealable vehicles, threatening public safety and diverting police resources.
Source: USAfacts.org