Hyundai Motor and Kia agreed to a consumer class-action lawsuit settlement worth more than $200 million over rampant car thefts of the Korean automakers’ vehicles, lawyers for the owners said on Thursday.
In February, the Korean automakers said they would offer software upgrades to 8.3 million US vehicles without anti-theft immobilizers to help curb increasing car thefts using a method popularized on TikTok and other social media channels.
The settlement covers about 9 million US owners and includes up to $145 million for out-of-pocket losses for consumers who had cars stolen, lawyers for the owners said.
[Written in collaboration with other media outlets with information from the following sources]
