Kia and Hyundai's New Anti-Theft Software is Lowering Car-Stealing Rates

An anonymous reader shared this report from CNN:More than a year after Hyundai and Kia released new anti-theft software updates, thefts of vehicles with the new software are falling - even as thefts overall remain astoundingly high, according to a new analysis of insurance claim data.The automakers released the updates starting last February, after a tenfold increase in thefts of certain Hyundai and Kia models in just the past three years - sparked by a series of social media posts that showed people how to steal the vehicles. "Whole vehicle" theft claims - insurance claims for the loss of the entire vehicle - are 64% lower among the Hyundai and Kia cars that have had the software upgrade, compared to cars of the same make, model and year without the upgrade, according to the Highway Loss Data Institute. "The companies' solution is extremely effective," Matt Moore, senior vice president of HLDI, an industry group backed by auto insurers, said in a statement... Between early 2020 and the first half of 2023, thefts of Hyundai and Kia models rose more than 1,000%. The article points out that HDLI's analysis covered 2023, and "By the end of that year, only about 30% of vehicles eligible for the security software had it installed. By now, around 61% of eligible Hyundai vehicles have the software upgrade, a Hyundai spokesperson said." The car companies told CNN that more than 2 million Hyundai and Kia vehicles have gotten the update (part of a $200 million class action settlement reached in May of 2023).

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