Overview & Reviews

A relative newcomer to the American marketplace, Hyundai is a Korean automaker with a product line that has improved greatly over the past decade. Hyundai cars and SUVs provide a high level of content for an affordable price, and are currently backed by one of the industry's longest warranties.

In 1947, Chung Ju Yung founded the Hyundai Civil Engineering Company. Mere months later, the outfit was bombed in the Korean War. However, the company regained its footing to distinguish itself as one of Korea's leading construction enterprises during the 1950s.

By the late 1960s, Chung had turned his attention to the automobile industry. The Korean government at that time believed that it made more sense to import vehicles than produce them domestically, and had made its opinion known. Still, Chung opted to follow his own convictions, and in 1967, he founded the Hyundai Motor Company.

The company quickly established an alliance with one of the industry's oldest automakers, signing a two-year contract with Ford in 1968 to share assembly technology. Hyundai's first car, the Cortina, was created from that partnership. The manufacturer's first car to be designed and built in Korea was the compact Pony (although the car was based on Japanese technology courtesy of Mitsubishi). The vehicle made its debut in 1974, and the following year Hyundai began exporting it to overseas markets.

Hyundai entered the U.S. market in 1986 with the introduction of its subcompact Excel. The car was an immediate hit, with its supreme affordability being a primary selling point. More than 100,000 Excels were sold stateside in the first seven months. By 1988, Hyundai had begun to produce cars using its own technology. The midsize Sonata was the first fruit borne of this endeavor.

Unfortunately, Hyundai's nascent image was soon tarnished by the poor durability and reliability of its vehicles. Sales tanked. However, rather than abandon the American market in the '90s, Hyundai chose to invest heavily in new product designs and improvements in overall quality and reliability. In 1998, Hyundai also purchased Kia, another Korean automaker, to expand its business and economies of scale.

It all started to pay off by the start of the new millennium, with the 2001 Elantra in particular showing massive improvements in overall quality, reliability and performance. Other models followed suit and the desirability of Hyundai cars increased sharply. Providing an extraordinarily long warranty period didn't hurt either.

Today's lineup is indicative of Hyundai's complete turnaround. Hyundai has a vehicle for nearly every segment, including the economical Accent subcompact, the popular Elantra compact, the midsize Sonata sedan (also available as a hybrid), sporty Genesis and Veloster coupes and a couple of stylish SUVs. Hyundai has also expanded into the entry-level and premium-level luxury sedan markets with its Genesis and Equus sedans. Having gone from being the butt of late-night TV jokes in the 1980s to a well-respected manufacturer of quality vehicles, Hyundai has created a very inspiring rags-to-riches story.

User Reviews:

• 

  Ran out of gas !! - 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Joseph Xavier Martin - January 1 - 4:44 pm

  Huyndai Santa Fe 2009 model has a faulty fuel indicator.Internet stories say 2007-2013 models share the problem also. How can you drive a car when you dont know if and when you will run out of gas? The USA Hundai and World Hyundai refuse to acknowledge the problem exists even though the internet is full of cases where the fuel gauge doesnt work. The fix is a $500 cost to the owner. Not fair. If a manufacturer wont guarantee that their product is reliable, customers would look elsewhere. We sure will when we buy our next car. Hyundai lists a corporate philosophy on their website. I didnt see anything there about throwing customers under the bus! Bad form !!

• 

  first owner - 1997 Hyundai Elantra
  By vivand - January 1 - 2:00 am

  This has been a good reliable car so far....definitely under valued in the market simply because it is new...

• 

  Great Buy - 2006 Hyundai Azera
  By Bob - December 31 - 12:40 pm

  I bought the Azera after owning an 04 Lexus ES330. The Azera has more HP and features and rides almost as well. I do a lot of hwy driving and find the Azera just as comfortable and in some cases more enjoyable than the Lexus. For the difference in price there is no contest. When I show my friends, they all say Wow. They didnt know that Hyundai built an upscale car. One friend is even buying the Azera.

• 

  Great SUV - 2008 Hyundai Veracruz
  By StuCyn - December 31 - 6:06 am

  Fantastic vehicle for the money. We bought the Limited and love it. Best features are the proximity key and auto open/close lift gate. The navigation system is so so but the stereo system rocks. Great head room and very comfortable for long trips. Very quiet ride with very little road noise. We test drove several other SUV makes and found them overpriced for the same features and less warranty.

• 

  Great Value - 2002 Hyundai Accent
  By kennyv - December 31 - 2:00 am

  Peppy Car with lots of standard options. Great second car. Great price and warranty. I havent had any problems with the car so far.

• 

  great car - 2004 Hyundai Tiburon
  By toolman98831 - December 30 - 10:00 am

  very fun car. great sound system. has more power than all the car i drove. the only bad thing is the back seat. it has no function its to small. i feel that the car would be a better two seater.

• 

  Terrific performance - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Carl Pattison - December 30 - 10:00 am

  Better than I expeted

• 

  I cant believe it! - 2007 Hyundai Veracruz
  By M. Allen - December 29 - 2:40 am

  I love the styling and the interior is fabulous. So far, Im averaging about 19.6 MPG in all around driving and it is not even broken in yet. I test drove everything in its class, but something kept bringing back to the Veracruz. I pull a 3500 pound boat, and it pulls it much better than my 4.0L, V-6 Explorer did. The engine and transmission are both smooth and refined. Sometimes I cant tell if the engine is even running. I owned two Hondas prior to this, but I could not purchase the Pilot over the Veracruz. The Honda dealers arrogance just pushed me right into the Hyundai dealers showroom. Time will tell, but Im very pleased with this vehicle, and highly recommend it!

• 

  HATE THIS VEHICLE! - 2016 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Unhappy in Utah - December 28 - 6:14 pm

  I have had this vehicle for 4 months. Ive had it in twice now for the transmission problem. I am going to trade it back in. DO NOT BUY THIS VEHICLE!

• 

  UNDERpowered - 2007 Hyundai Tiburon
  By MOdriver - December 28 - 10:00 am

  I bought mine w/ 5000 miles, put 38,000 on it. Sold it because i had a family and you can BARELY squeeze a baby seat in the back, not practical. I bought it thinking this would be a peppy sports car, but was disappointed. Going from my Saturn to this was a step up, but not much. 170 hp and still only be in the 23mpg highway area makes this car not worth the money. It was reliable, handled fairly well, nice ride, and comfortable.