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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  Excellent value - 2012 Hyundai Elantra Touring
  By crowcanada - January 1 - 10:41 pm

  My wife and kids positively *love* our Touring! Theyre all short (52 to 54) so they love the visibility and low-dash design The controls are well laid out and easy to use. The radio is small and fiddly. Ride is stiff, but handling is good. Not truly sporty, though. Hyundai seems to think making things stiff and heavy = sporty, but thats not true. It is a vastly better driver than my 13 Elantra Sedan, which, although more comfortable, has "unsettled" handling. Handling is predictable and road holding good. Engine is weak and mileage is not great in this class. Seats are hard and flat, but surprisingly dont kill you on long (14+ hour) drives.

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  Best car and best price - 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By FordPLG - January 1 - 7:03 pm

  Best car in the class, especially the very nice interior, and the very rich standard features. Beautiful style. Best price with very clear sales information.

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  Sonata - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By SteveO - December 31 - 11:50 pm

  One of the best vehicles we have owned, great ride, handling and performance, Very quiet.

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  Love this Car - 2005 Hyundai Tiburon
  By mikeyb72 - December 31 - 8:53 pm

  This is a great car. much improved over the years. Great handling. The new styling is so nice; I much prefer the new grill and air dam. The car is pretty quick and loves to go fast!

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  The - 2006 Hyundai Azera
  By John R - December 31 - 7:43 pm

  After driving this vehicle for a month I have one thing to say "Wow! This is a Hyundai?" This vehicle is very quick, and agile for its class. It has a great turning radius compared to its size, acceleration is terrific, and overall handling is smooth and responsive. I drive around 600-1000 miles a week and comfort is a big deal for me and with this vehicle I havent had to worry about it. The interior is very confortable and has many posture support features such as a lumbar and higher placed seats (Good for bigger people like me). The interior has a luxurious warm feeling to it and its spaciousness and an overall sharp looking vehicle makes it feel even better. Worth every penny!

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  hyundai rules - 2007 Hyundai Veracruz
  By bernard n. edwards - December 31 - 5:43 am

  we have had our limited vera cruz two wheel drive,and all i can say is no one builds better cars than hyundai.we are on our 8th hyundai and will be buying the new rear wheel drive v8 sedan.so we already have our name on the list for this car in 2009.

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  Gotta have it, Gotta love it (An honest review) - 2015 Hyundai Sonata
  By Talib - December 30 - 12:24 pm

  Like many others here, I rented all the cars before buying them, believe me its worth it. I rented a Camry, Altima and finally a Sonata, I was in a huge dilemma about buying a Nissan Altima or a Hyundai Sonata until the Nissan dealership in Lake Norman started playing tricks on me, and after 2 months of research and rental experiences, I finally decided to for a Venetian Red 2015 Sonata SE. I wanted a base model with allow wheels and blue tooth without having to pay for them, and guess what, the LED lights and the spoiler just came in ad an added bonus for Sonata, this is the beauty of Hyundais along with its amazing 100,000 miles warranty that you do not have to pay extra for a ridiculous package in order to get basic stuff such as alloy wheel etc, like in the cases of Toyota, Honda and Nissan. Alright, let me be honest and tell you a few things that I dislike about this car: - Gas Mileage (Hyundai claims it gives you 25 mpg in the city, which is not true, I get not more than 22 mpg in the city for sure) - Traction Control (The traction cannot handle the acceleration and the wheels would start spinning, even on the dry roads, not sure what to blame) - USB port - The built in USB port does not support android, at least not in my case, therefore I have to rely on bluetooth or AUX) - Dull Alloy Wheels - The dullness of alloy wheels for the SE trim does not compliment the car over all, but eh, I cant complain much as it is a BASE model Now, the things I absolutely love about this car: - Great Turn Radius - Beautiful LED lights (even with base model) - Highway mileage (32 mpg even driving at 75 miles an hour, you might get better than 37 mpg if you drive at 55 miles an hour) - Spacious trunk - Great leg room for rear seats - Just enough power to accelerate quickly and merge on to the highways/freeways - Amazing Brakes - Sports, ECO and Normal Mode (For those who do not know, once switched to SPORTS mode, the cars steering becomes stiff as well as the engine along with the help of transmission helps you accelerate the car at way faster, you actually feel like driving a sports car. Normal mode for regular driving I guess) - Eye Catching Front - I love the way it looks in the front, not a big fan of how they have changed in the back - Warranty - 36,000 for Radio, Media and speakers. 60,000, bumper to bumper and 100,000 for Engine and Transmission. I do not think any other automobile manufacturer can beat that. Punch Line: An absolutely wonderful package for those who would like to fall in love with their new ride.

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  60000 miles and going strong - 2005 Hyundai XG350
  By JackP - December 30 - 7:06 am

  Bought this car figuring it was worth a shot for the price and with its great warranty. I was very surprised to find it to be very reliable, comfortable and fun to drive. No complaints at all. One of the best cars Ive ever owned and I have owned many fine cars including a Mercedes. This car is a steal!

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  Pocket Rocket! - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Tom Marshall - December 29 - 10:00 am

  This car is fun to drive, attractive, manueverable, has good gas mileage, is built well, and the price is right! I am very happy with my Tiburon.

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  Great car - 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By SantaFeDriver - December 29 - 10:00 am

  Has always had doubts about Hyundai, but was pleasantly surprised with the features and nice handling of the Santa Fe.