K is uppercase, so it's not the "kilo" prefix, it's the "Kelvin" unit for temperature. The Hyundai Elantra were stolen at 48000K, much hotter than the temperature of the sun but not nearly as hot as the smile of whoever's reading this

indeed. a grand theft auto

That's 173 million Korean cars stolen each year in America. Meaning that everyone stole half a Korean car last year. While writing this comment, I stole 2 brake pads from a Korean car myself.

I think those are/were the ones that could be started with just a USB-A connector…sticking it in where the key goes. And everyone has usb cables in their cars already…

These numbers are specifically because of the "KIA Boys" issue that affected non-electric cars with standard keys and no immobilizer. They did recalls that fixed a bunch of models and gave out lame steering wheel locks for the others, so I imagine it is lower now.

I'd say it's as much about being able to sell parts, which is why Honda has historically topped the list - their parts work on most of their cars.

IIRC, Honda got pushed down only because Kia Hyundai had such an easy to steal car, so kids started stealing them for the hell of it.

Naw, you don’t need much to hack into Hyundai and Kia. There was a whole crew of young people hacking and stealing them with radios and smart phones, it was even a social media trend. But it’s recent and short lived. I think they finally fix the issue.