Kia Hosting Anti-Theft Upgrade Event At Arundel Mills

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — Kia is partnering with Baltimore-area law enforcement agencies this weekend to host an event designed to upgrade certain models against theft, according to authorities and reports.

The event will be held Friday through Sunday at Arundel Mills Mall, located at 7000 Arundel Mills Circle in Hanover, according to the Baltimore County Police Department. The event runs from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day.

All area Kia owners are eligible to participate, police said. No appointment is necessary and owners should expect to spend 20 minutes at the event.

To see if a Kia is eligible for upgrade, visit this website to check the VIN number.

Baltimore City leaders are working on local solutions to the growing nationwide issue surrounding theft of certain Kia and Hyundai models, according to a WBAL-TV report. On Monday, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said auto thefts are up 227 percent, or more than 9,500 cars stolen so far this year, WBAL reported.

The uptick in thefts can be partially attributed to a TikTok challenge, which showed how to start the unprotected models using a USB charger.

Some U.S. cities saw year-over-year increases in theft of these models of more than 800 percent or even 1,000 percent, according to state officials. For example, Philadelphia saw a nearly 800 percent and 400 percent increase in thefts of Kias and Hyundais. In Chicago, more than 7,000 Kia and Hyundai vehicles alone were stolen in 2022. And in the first three weeks of 2023, Kias and Hyundais made up 44 percent of all car thefts in Washington, D.C., a sharp rise compared to July 2022.

Officials have said Hyundai and Kia chose not to include anti-theft devices that were a standard feature in most new cars manufactured between 2011 and 2022, including the same Hyundai and Kia models sold in Canada and Europe. Hyundai and Kia owners now face the unnecessary risk of having their vehicles stolen, as well as struggling to obtain insurance for the affected vehicles.

This weekend's event is intended to support Baltimore-area dealers by increasing an anti-theft software upgrade designed to make it harder for criminals to steal the cars, Kia told WBAL. Kia said it would also provide free steering wheel locks.