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:

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  Overall Great Purchase "But". - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By John of Columbus NC - December 24 - 9:06 pm

  Purchased this vehicle after trading in a 2009 Honda CRV EX-L. Loved the Honda but tired of the SUV. The Hyundai is everything I expected except I have a noise under the dash that drives me crazy whenever I go over a speed bump or drive on a secondary road, I read about this noise in other owner reviews but was hoping it would not happen to me. My Honda never had a noise like this. It sounds like something is loose and it is a "plastic" like noise. I will ask my dealer to fix it during my first service. If he cant, I will really regret my purchase regardless of price.

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  Re-design is Good! - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By RManley - December 24 - 1:00 pm

  The oveall interior and exterior design of the 2007 Hyundai Sante Fe is extremely well done. My wife loves it and the 07 rides so much better than our previous 03. I recommend this to friends all the time and they love the look.

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  so far so good - 2005 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Eric - December 24 - 6:13 am

  I have had my new Tucson for about 2 weeks as of this writing. I drive an average of 55 miles a day mixed city and highway. I have been on a 900 mile round trip(to Gettysburg) with tucson. All of the "professional" reviews I read didnt seem to feel the tucson V-6 has enough power. I disagree. Even with both rear seats down and the cargo space full, with two adults up front and the A/C on- I never felt that I didnt have enough power to get on the highway safely. Its no sports car by any means but it is zippy enough to be a fun drive. My only complaint would be that I wish the steering wheel had a little bigger range of tilt and would telescope as I just cant get 100% comfortable

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  Just lost mine..... - 2000 Hyundai Elantra
  By Crazyboy13 - December 24 - 2:00 am

  To a telephone pole. The safety features worked great, we walked away with minor bruses. I had 96000 miles on it and never had any problems, Cant find one to replace it and I would. looking at an 03. It was a 5spd, with spoiler.

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  would never buy another one - 2007 Hyundai Veracruz
  By unhappy owner - December 23 - 10:23 pm

  I just recently purchased the veracruz about 4 months ago. Within the first week there was a loud thumping noise in the rear end, then once winter hit I attempted to use the awd feature. I quickly realized that did not work, the loud grinding noise gave that away. So after my wife putting 1000 miles on it, off to the shop it went. replaced entire rear end and 4 wheel drive due to oil contamination, at least that what I was told. While it was in the shop I told them to check the front end,as that was making alot of noise also. they did not, so know I am back in my loaner vehicle,after paying nearly 30k for a vehicle and now back in a loaner car, could not be more dissatisfied.

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  My first Hyundai - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Tim from Cleveland - December 23 - 7:33 pm

  I never thought I would own a Hyundai until I test drove a Santa Fe. My wife and I drove the Mercury Mariner, Ford Escape, and checked out the Chevrolet Equinox. By the time we priced the Mariner and Escape with the equipment on my Santa Fe, they became too pricey.

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  My 03 Tibby is wonderfull - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Darwin - December 23 - 10:00 am

  I had a 2001 tiburon and it was great but this one is so much better. Very quick and great on gas. Its a fun car and i get alot of looks from others.

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  Awesome Car - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By DLegend - December 22 - 1:36 pm

  Pretty Comfy ride. SE is more rough, but the limited is smooth. I am confident that you can get a loaded Limited w/o nav for 23,5 or 24 as opposed to the MSRP. The engine though deceivingly small, is pretty powerful. People complain about not having a V-6, but unless you live in a hilly rural or suburban area, I dont see the point at all. I think Hyundai did good finally after all these years. They convinced me, and I admit I used to laugh at Hyundai until recently. Ultimately we bought this car for the safety, feel, warranty and looks. Cant comment about reliability just yet, although the Sonata has been doing good in the past couple of years. But we are very optimistic!

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  Love Driving a Tucson - 2005 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Trudy - December 22 - 2:06 am

  I love driving this car. My only complaint is that the mileage is only about 20 mpg and my old car did better. It has a lot of pep and a lot of room, but still isnt so big as most SUVs. Its easy to maneuver. The A/C will blow you into the back seat and it just feels good driving it. Before I bought the Tucson I drove a Suzuki SUV, a Toyota Rav4 and a Honda CRV and the Tucson won hands down.

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  Great Car - 1993 Hyundai Elantra
  By Don2000 - December 22 - 2:00 am

  Reliable, Comfortable, Good Mileage, Drove to work 250 Miles a week for the last 5 years.