MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee City Attorney Tearman Spencer said his office is "poised and ready" to file a lawsuit against automakers Kia and Hyundai amid the ongoing rash of car thefts.
"If we get the word that the city wants to do this, we will have it filed immediately within minutes," said Spencer.
The two manufacturers are the two most commonly stolen car brands in the city.
"In my estimation, Milwaukee is ground zero for this 'Kia matter' and where things have started. There's a lot of damage that has occurred in our backyard," he said.
According to Milwaukee Police, 8,096 vehicles were stolen in 2022 and 58% were made by Kia or Hyundai. So far this year, 1,194 cars have been stolen and 52% of those were manufactured by those two automakers.
"We should be doing something immediately," he said.
Spencer said he just needs the city's Common Council to approve the filing of the lawsuit. As soon as that happens, the city would join what's called a multi-jurisdiction litigation in federal court, joining other cities like Seattle and Madison.
"I think whether it's Madison or Milwaukee or other cities filing suit, it can benefit drivers all across the state," said Madison's City Attorney Michael Haas. The council there voted to move forward with a lawsuit on Tuesday.
"We are attempting to recover costs that our Police Department and our first responders have incurred, but I think also equally as important or more important is to actually get the manufacturers to fix the problem," said Haas.
Governments are not the only ones suing these automakers.
A Milwaukee resident filed a class action lawsuit last month seeking damages, not only for himself, but for all victims who have had their Kia Or Hyundai Vehicles (models 2015-2022 with insert and turn style key systems) stolen.
For city governments, the compensation for the lawsuits would allow cities to focus on the danger motor vehicle thefts poise to the community, said both of the attorneys.
"It's not only the thefts of vehicles but it's tending to be those vehicles being involved in other activity; whether it's joyriding, ending up in collision or other thefts," said Haas.
"Even if we enter into something and Kia do what they need to do, we still need to address the underlying problems that we have and what has developed since the beginning of this," said Spencer.
In a statement Friday, a spokesperson for Hyundai said, "Hyundai is committed to ensuring the quality and integrity of our products. All Hyundai vehicles meet the anti-theft requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 114. In response to increasing thefts targeting Hyundai vehicles without push-button ignitions and immobilizing anti-theft devices in the U.S., Hyundai has introduced a free anti-theft software upgrade to prevent the vehicles from starting during a method of theft popularized on TikTok and other social media. All Hyundai vehicles produced since November 2021 are equipped with an engine immobilizer as standard equipment. Hyundai is also providing free steering wheel locks to law enforcement agencies for distribution to local residents who own or lease affected models."
Kia America did not respond to Friday's request for a response to the lawsuits that are being filed, but as mentioned in previous reporting, that company has also offered software upgrades that they hope will curb the theft issues.
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