Hyundai and Kia vehicle thefts have modestly cooled in Baltimore County since a dramatic social media-induced uptick in 2023, according to new police data.

The county experienced 2,640 Hyundai and Kia thefts in 2023, an increase of over 1,100% from 2022 and the years prior, according to data from the Baltimore County Police Department.

From January to September 2024, however, the county saw 1,463 Hyundai and Kia thefts, which marked a 21% decrease from 1,841 thefts during the same period in 2023.

Nationally, Hyundai and Kia thefts have surged since 2021, when a social media trend exposed security vulnerabilities in certain past car models.

These vehicles have turn-key ignitions that are not equipped with electronic immobilizers, a device that confirms a key is the right match with the vehicle. Thieves began posting videos online in which they rip the steering column cover and stick a USB cable into a rectangular port to start the engine and then take joyrides in the stolen cars.

The security exploit has affected nearly 4 million Hyundai vehicles, said Hyundai Motor America spokesman Ira Gabriel. Kia representatives did not respond to a request for comment.

The Baltimore County Police data shows car thefts in the region jolted in 2023, when they reached a zenith of 4,143 cases. Over 63% of those cases were from Hyundai and Kia thefts. So far this year, that figure has dropped to about 50%. Baltimore City has experienced a similar dip in auto thefts among Hyundai and Kia models since 2023, according to an emailed statement from the Police Department.

The thefts have slightly eased in part because the manufacturers started offering a software upgrade that patched the security exploit. The updates, implemented around February 2023, have helped cut theft of upgraded models by more than half compared to their non-upgraded counterparts, according to national research from the Highway Loss Data Institute.

“The takeaway is that while theft overall remains high for these vehicles, the antitheft software is helping to bring down thefts of affected models,” said Joe Young, a spokesman for the institute.

Still, some Hyundai and Kia owners haven’t taken advantage of the software update yet, Young said. About 64% of Hyundai vehicles have the software upgrade, which represents more than 1.4 million vehicles, said Gabriel, the Hyundai spokesman. Kia previously claimed similar statistics.

“Out of date contact information can make it challenging to simply communicate the issue to some owners, while others may face logistical hurdles to getting the repair done,” Young said. “Others may not feel the need to take advantage of this upgrade if they live in an area with low rates of vehicle theft.”

Any affected Hyundai vehicles that cannot accommodate the software update may be eligible for free ignition cylinder protectors, Gabriel said.

Hyundai and Kia’s “failure to equip these vehicles with appropriate anti-theft technology” have strained the Police Department and other public resources, county police Chief Robert McCullough said in a public hearing last week.

Baltimore City and other jurisdictions filed lawsuits against the car manufacturers last year to recuperate expenditures on these resources. Baltimore County is considering legal options at this time, said Joy Lepola-Stewart, a county police spokesperson.

In October, a federal court granted law firm Hagens Berman final approval of a May 2023 settlement valued at over $200 million for a separate class-action lawsuit against Hyundai and Kia.