2023-05-20 12:19:25
South Korean automaker Hyundai plans to pay up to $200 million in compensation to owners of cars made in the United States, after a series of thefts and accidents stemming from a challenge that went viral on TikTok.
With the aim of ending class action lawsuits, the company reached an agreement to compensate about 9 million owners of “Hyundai” and “Kia” cars manufactured between 2011 and 2022, including models such as “Tussan”, “Santa Fe” and “Elantra”, according to a company statement.
@fari_negas
The TikTok challenge, dubbed “Kia Challenge” (Kia Challenge), began on the famous platform in 2022, after thieves known by the pseudonym “Kia Boys” showed in a video how to operate certain cars in a very easy way.
The challenge revolves around teenagers stealing a car from the street by breaking into the car, separating the steering column and connecting the hot wires to it using a USB cable, and the process takes between 20 and 30 seconds.
According to statements by Los Angeles officials to CNBC, the challenge led to an 85% increase in theft of Kia and Hyundai cars compared to 2021, and the same incidents took place in many states.
In addition, “the phenomenon resulted in at least 14 traffic accidents and 8 deaths,” according to the US Highway Safety Agency.
And last February, the authority announced that Hyundai and Kia would cover the costs of an anti-theft program by providing millions of cars with a free immobilizer system.
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According to the agreement, which was revealed on Thursday, the car manufacturer will pay compensation to those whose cars were stolen or damaged and to those who did not receive compensation under their insurance contracts.
TikTok, which belongs to the Chinese “ByteDance” group, is facing problems in the United States, in light of the demands of many elected officials from the forces of the right and the left to ban the application in the country.
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