Also, this would be completely legal to sell. There’s no law requiring keys, or an immobilizer, or really any anti-theft technology.

If you don’t like that, and I don’t, change the law. Don’t sue for something completely legal because it makes life inconvenient for a city. There is a long list of things cities find inconvenient, like bicycles without a built-in GPS, or even things as dumb as American flags in an upscale neighborhood.

> Don’t sue for something completely legal because it makes life inconvenient for a city.

I don't understand this reasoning. The city believes there is already a law under which what the car manufacturer did is not legal. They and the car manufacturer will go in front of a judge where the city will need to prove this, while the lawyers of the car manufacturer will presumably argue otherwise.

Should I be feeling bad for Kia that they have to justify their choices?

The city is going to spend substantial time and taxpayer dollars to argue a legal theory that is extremely dubious at best. If private citizens want to sue for dumb reasons, that's their prerogative, but a public entity with lots of other problems to deal with is fair game for criticism when they engage in boondoggles.