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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  GOOD VALUE - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By Son Son - December 9 - 10:00 am

  Well done,Hyundai, for providing a sufficient price for a good amount of features!!!!!

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  7 months with my 2002 - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By straighh - December 9 - 10:00 am

  I have had the car since December, already have 13,000 miles and am pleased overall. I have noticed a few quirks though. My car, although an automatic, seems to have difficulty shifting sometimes. It will shift hard on occasion and I can see the RPMs shoot up. Im told they do this when they have not yet warmed up but I wonder if it is a sign of things to come. I also noticed that the AC only seems to work when Im moving. If I stop at a light I suddenly get a blast of air that is a little too tepid for AC.

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  Best Bang for your Buck - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By Alex C - December 9 - 2:33 am

  I bough the limited with the navigation and I do not regret. Money well spent. I bought this vehicle for my wife. She wanted something to keep up with my car I have a tiburon with many extra performance parts. And let me tell you this car kept up with my much lighter tiburon all the way past 130 mph I was surprised. Navigation is easy to use. However the voice comes a little late when you are at the turn instead of before. That would be my only complain. Also wished they had change more of the body to distinguish from the 2008 other than the tail lights and headlights. But overall Im satisfied and so is my wife she loves it. We drove the altima, g8 and the sonata came way on top.

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  Love My Elantra - 2007 Hyundai Elantra
  By FranfromFL - December 8 - 8:53 pm

  I havent had it for very long but I am very happy with my Elantra. The engine is very quiet and the ride is smooth. It has a lot of nice touches on the interior.

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  Im in Love - 2016 Hyundai Elantra
  By devonstrickland@att.net - December 8 - 11:07 am

  I am in love with my Elantra! I love the way it drives, I love the way it looks, but more importantly I love how much money it saves me on gas. It takes like $15-20 less than what my old car took to fill up and that is awesome to me. I definitely recommend this car!

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  What a great little car - 2004 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Jag - December 7 - 2:10 pm

  As a former owner of an Acura Integra, Chevy Camaro, Olds 442 & Jaguar XKE, I love this great little car. The syling is the best. Sunroof & Infinity radio are a must. Unbeatable for the price.

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  IMPRESSED - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By Troy - December 7 - 3:53 am

  Just purchased yesterday so Im sure that I am a little biased right now but I am really impressed with the quality. To give some perspective my old car was a 2007 Taurus so this is an upgrade. The doors are solid, the ride is quiet and very comfortable and I think it handles great. I read many reviews on how blah it is but I think it is pretty responsive. The 6 cyl engine is more than I really need but the drop in fuel economy wasnt that great. The interior is excellent. High quality materials and everything seems to be in the right place. After the $3K rebate I felt it was a lot of car compared the competition. I didnt think about Hyundai at first but Im glad I gave it a chance.

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  Second Hyundai - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By rainman1975 - December 6 - 10:00 am

  This car is great! This is my second Hyundai. My first was a 99 Elantra. Where that one was boring, this one is exciting. I got the pewter -- great color and it looks good all the time!

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  Im in love with my SUV! - 2007 Hyundai Veracruz
  By Baseball Mom - December 4 - 11:20 am

  Im the previous owner of (2)Santa Fes (2001 & 2006). Fell in love with the Veracruz when I went car shopping with a friend. I love the Hyundai warranty (10 year, 10,000 miles) and the car is unbelievably comfortable, stylish and great performance. So glad that Hyundai finally has a luxury vehicle and believe me this crossover is really luxurious! I have people stop me all the time to ask about the vehicle. Ive never had that happen before. It is a pleasure to drive, a nice smooth drive and much quieter interior than my Santa Fe. It really is outstanding.

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  Fun unless you crash - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By bishop3210 - December 4 - 10:00 am

  The $ I paid, styling, and options make this a great car. Initially, my only qualm was concerning the hp. Hyundai released a report stating that they miscalculated the hp and the EGT only has 134 hp instead of 140. I bought this car because of its hp and felt cheated when I found this out and was not eligible for compensation. But, I just recently got into an accident and pretty much destroyed the front end of my car. The Integra I hit suffered negligible damage, but my bumper, grill and hood are going to have to be replaced. I was only going 30mph, too. ItÂ’s a great car and I still love it, but I wish it had more hp and was built more solidly.