By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) -New York Metropolis on Tuesday sued Hyundai Motor Co and Kia Corp, accusing the South Korean automakers of negligence and making a public nuisance by promoting autos which might be too simple to steal.

Probably the most populous U.S. metropolis joined a number of different main cities which have sued Hyundai and Kia over the thefts, together with Baltimore, Cleveland, Milwaukee, San Diego and Seattle.

In a criticism filed in Manhattan federal court docket, New York faulted the automakers’ failure from 2011 to 2022 to put in anti-theft units referred to as immobilizers on most of their automobiles, making them “practically distinctive” amongst car producers.

New York mentioned this has “opened the floodgates to car theft, crime sprees, reckless driving, and public hurt,” exacerbated by TikTok movies exhibiting the right way to steal automobiles that lack push-button ignitions and immobilizers.

Town mentioned the variety of reported stolen Hyundais and Kias doubled final 12 months, adopted by a “digital explosion of thefts” within the first 4 months of 2023 with 977 reported thefts, up from 148 in the identical interval in 2022.

In distinction, the town mentioned thefts of BMW, Ford, Honda, Mercedes, Nissan (OTC:) and Toyota autos have fallen this 12 months.

The criticism seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

Hyundai mentioned in a press release that it made immobilizers customary on all autos in November 2021, and has taken steps together with a software program improve to cut back the specter of thefts.

Kia had no instant remark.

In February, Hyundai and Kia mentioned they might provide software program upgrades for as many as 8.3 million U.S. autos that lack the immobilizers.

Final month, Hyundai and Kia reached a $200 million settlement of a shopper class motion over the thefts.

That case coated about 9 million U.S. car homeowners, and included as a lot as $145 million to cowl losses for stolen autos, legal professionals for the homeowners mentioned.

The case is Metropolis of New York v Hyundai Motor America et al, U.S. District Courtroom, Southern District of New York, No. 23-04772.