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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  LOVE THIS AUTOMOBILE - 2004 Hyundai XG350
  By FRANK PERRICONE - March 21 - 10:00 am

  THIS IS TRULY AN EXCELLANT AUTOMOBILE. THE BEST CAR I HAVE EVER OWNED AND/OR DRIVEN. HANDLES WELL, ACCELLERATES WELL, IS VERY SMOOTH AND ALMOST SOUNDLESS.

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  Hyundai Santa Fe - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By L. Cerow - March 21 - 10:00 am

  Love it. I wish it had a compass, and better lighting in parts of the dash and door locks. Also, I am tall, but not that tall (59") and I could use a bit more head room and knee room. (My knees hit the steering column.) But, I got a great car for the money. Love the color and the looks. Great in snow. Handles well. More roomy inside than the other mid-size SUVs I looked at, and for less money. Love the leather seats and seat warmers.

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  Thats a good, reliable car - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By TaSchul4 - March 21 - 10:00 am

  "the best, most reliable automobile that I have ever owned."

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  SANTA FE - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By MR JOHN - March 21 - 10:00 am

  Had my santa fe 3 months.I have the 4 wheel drive 3.5L.Has good power and pick up. Great S.U.V for the money. I would say test drive this baby before u buy any S.U.V. Have had no problems thus far.900 miles and counting.

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  Excellent Car - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Todd Conrad - March 21 - 10:00 am

  Best car we have ever owned. Lots of room in back trunk area. Roomy in front, for leg room, and the back passenger area.

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  Worst Vehicle Ive ever had! - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Samsara - March 21 - 10:00 am

  The moment I drove this vehicle off the lot, Ive been having problems. Molding on the hood is coming off again; no pickup whatsoever; braking is poor; gray panel across bottom of vehicle chips very easily; back door of vehicle is way tooooo heavy. Previously had a Honda CRV -- the best! Mileage is terrible. Not sure what good I can find. Every week, if its not one thing, its another.

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  Love it so far - 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Gail - March 21 - 7:16 am

  I bought this used with over 70,000 miles. Love the car so far, except for fuel economy - coming out of a standard 4-cyl Accord this is a shocker to me. The Santa Fe is awesome in all aspects except for the fuel. I cannot wait to try it in the snow and I am looking forward to buying an updated model after this one. Would definitely buy another one.

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  My Review - 1999 Hyundai Elantra
  By Petra Gant - March 19 - 2:00 am

  This is a nice vehicle. I purchased it recently and Im very impressed

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  Best bang for the buck - 2008 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Craig - March 18 - 5:46 am

  Purchased this SUV after having a 4 cyl 5 speed Sante Fe for 4 years & was quite happy with both service & reliability with Hyundai vehicles. Was looking for something comparable & found the 4 cyl 5 speed Tucson surprisingly similar to drive. Handles very well in the city with great gas mileage. Having purchased a front-wheel drive, a good set of snow tires handled winter driving in the snow well. The highway driving is very good but the engine works harder on hills with 4 passengers and a full load, which is to be expected. Interior noise is surprisingly quiet for a hard working engine as well as very smooth handling. Recommend this vehicle with anyone with kids.Trunk space is a minimum

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  Great! - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Joshua - March 17 - 2:00 am

  Its great car. You can feel its so fast. Nice interior.. But eat up gas too much... It was 20 mpg for me all the tim..