In 2009, Chrysler bought out Mitsubishi and Hyundai's stake in the joint-venture; however, each company retained rights to build the engines.

The engine features hollow stainless-steel dual overhead camshafts (DOHC) with powder-metal cam lobes, pent-roof combustion chambers and shimless bucket tappets in the cylinder head.

The aluminum alloy engine block, which is formed using a high-pressure die-cast method, has a unique Metaldyne-supplied cassette-type balance shaft module with a two-stage oil pump built-in.

Other notable features include fracture-split sinter-forged connecting rods manufactured by Sinteron and a stainless-steel exhaust manifold.

Theta's EMS (engine management system) software is EMS-II from Siemens VDO and the 32-bit PCM (Powertrain Control Module) calculates the amount of intake air by utilizing a contamination-proof hot-film type MAF (mass air flow) sensor.

For RWD based applications, the 2.0L turbo MPI in the 2009–2012 Genesis Coupe, compression ratio is 9.5:1 and it produces 210–213 PS (154–157 kW; 207–210 hp) at 6,000 rpm and on 91 RON/87 octane (AKI) gasoline, and 226 PS (166 kW; 223 hp) at 6,000 rpm on 98 RON/93 octane (AKI).

Safety regulators are investigating if Hyundai and Kia did enough in a timely manner with regards to the recalls of nearly 1.7 million vehicles with Theta engines, which were prone to an abnormal amount of noise and seizing.

In September 2015, Hyundai recalled about 470,000 model year 2011-2012 Sonatas equipped with 2-liter and 2.4-liter Theta II engines.

The automaker blamed the problem on a mechanical "deburring" process used to remove metallic machining debris from the crankshaft.

[6] Also in April 2017, Hyundai and Kia Motors planned to recall 170,000 vehicles in South Korea from five models, including their Grandeur and Sonata, after acknowledging a defect in the Theta 2 engines used in them.

[8] Owners started suing after the automaker refused to pay the thousands of dollars to repair or replace the engines, with one lawsuit from 2015 alleging a dealer wanted $4,500 to do the work.

Kia was also served papers over a class-action lawsuit in 2016 filed by owners of vehicles equipped with Theta engines.