Kia owners in Atlanta may be eligible for a free software upgrade Saturday to help deter theft.
Atlanta police and Kia America will host an event from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturday at the Atlanta Civic Center, Mayor Andre Dickens said.
Kia owners can confirm eligibility online at ksupport.kiausa.com/ConsumerAffairs/SWLD. Owners who are not eligible for the software upgrade will be provided a steering wheel lock.
During a July interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Dickens said car thefts, particularly of Hyundais and Kias, are a growing problem.
“Robberies are down, and burglaries are down but the category that is up is vehicle theft,” Dickens said. “What we are seeing is an almost 1,300% increase in Kia and Hyundai thefts in the city of Atlanta and across the nation.
Although vehicle thefts have been on the rise since the start of the pandemic, the rate of finding those vehicles has also risen, according to a recent report. More than 85 percent of passenger vehicles reported stolen in 2022 were located, and 34 percent were recovered within a day of the vehicle being reported stolen.
Full-size pickups were stolen more than other vehicles in 2022, according to a study by the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
Full-size Chevrolet pickup trucks topped the list, followed closely by Ford pickups, according to the report. More than 98,000 pickups were stolen last year, and 2004-2006 models were targeted most often.
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