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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  Really Surprised - 2016 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid
  By B.Depasquale - March 24 - 11:43 pm

  I owned the 2013 Sonata Hybrid Limited. It had great pick up and handling with good gas mileage. It had just reached the 36,000 mile mark and I usually buy a new car by this point but, I was so happy with the 2013 that I didnt see any reason to change. Just for fun I agreed to drive the 2016 Sonata Hybrid Limited. I was really surprised at how many upgrades Hyundai had made with this model. Beautiful interior and even passenger side electric seats that heat and cool were added. I dont think the pick up is as good as 2013 but... improved gas mileage, heated steering wheel and multiple warning devices make this car amazing. A little light came on to tell me the pavement was at freezing temperatures. I lowered my speed. Another light came on to remind me to take my foot off of the accelerator. The navi system tells you what the speed limit is for the street you are on. Ok, as much as I loved the 2013, this 2016 is even better with a panoramic roof. It feels like luxury without the price tag. You will be really surprised when you drive this car.

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  cool - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By vSean - March 24 - 11:16 pm

  just so cool!!

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  great machine - 2001 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Wayne2 - March 24 - 2:00 am

  Best auto I have owned in 35 years

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  MY PRETTY BLUE TRUCK - 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By NelliePoo - March 24 - 2:00 am

  i am 17 and my mom bought me this car almost a year ago and i have had no problems. i love the color and it rides very smoothly. at first i did not want a truck because i liked the feel of cars but this was perfect for me. it is high up but feels great to drive. it guzzles gas though! but maybe i just go out too much. but i am very happy with it and i am proud to show off my pretty blue truck.

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  Great car - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By Jason - March 23 - 9:53 am

  I traded a 2007 Elantra for a 2007 Sonata and I could not be happier with my choice. I looked at pretty much all the option packages and the Limited Platinum Edition was by far the best value. The fuel efficiency is not that great, which is not unusual for a car with such a big engine.

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  stuck on the interstate with a messed up tuscon - 2016 Hyundai TUCSON
  By deborah a hardy - March 23 - 8:34 am

  I purchased a 2016 Tucson in April . this was my all time favorite car, until last week. I drive on the interstate every day and often experience heavy traffic. this day was no exception. I was in stop and go traffic. it was about 90 degrees outside. I took my foot off of the brake and stepped on the accelerator and the car would not go. there were no indicator lights on. I put the car in park and retried and the car would not go. I was in a traffic jam so I put on flashers, called the Hyundai motor assistance and began the wait. the car continued to run not overheating no indicator lights. finally some concerned motorists came to my rescue and pushed me off of the highway, because by this time I was causing a traffic jam. while on the side of the road, the transmission overtemp alarm indicator came on. this was more than an hour after the problem began. I shut down the car. AAA came and he started my car and it was fine. I felt like an idiot. I figured that the dealership would say that I was making it up or that women dont know how to drive. I was on the highway stranded for 3hours and by the way the road side assistance never showed up. they called 5 hours later at my home to ask if I was safe. my car is still at the dealership. they do not have a fix and the service manager was very nice and honest. the big problem for me is that this car is not safe and Hyundai is in denial. Im going to the tv networks as this looks like it fits the criteria of a lemon.

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  eri - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By yoyoy - March 22 - 10:00 am

  very fun to drive and exciting

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  If they made the stereo buttons bigger.. - 2001 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By PeterNorthern - March 22 - 10:00 am

  Then I would have given this a 10 on the interior design. Those buttons are smaller than an ants nose, and the buttons work in a very non-intuitive way. Other than that and a couple of minor quibbles (see below), its great. This is the "other" car, with our main family vehicle being an Explorer. The Santa Fe is exactly what we wanted it to be.

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  2011 in 2010. Perfect. - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By bill - March 22 - 6:36 am

  This 2011 is great. The 6 speed auto with overdrive torque lockup makes this an interstate veh. First 300 miles is getting a strong 36 mpg on two lane roads. On the interstate it just wants to fly. 40 plus MPG at 73 MPH 2200 RPM. The prius has a .25 drag co. and this has a .28 drag co. and I can tell driving it the sonata just wants to go! It trues out like an arrow! I am 62" ... very comfortable car. Turning the steering wheel quarter to half an inch brings immediate tracking response.

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  Second Hyundai (first was 1986) - 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By aaidi - March 21 - 5:47 pm

  I come from a family very loyal to Toyotas and Hondas, but even I have to agree that today the South Koreans easily win on styling and features, and are barely a notch below the two Japanese heavyweights in terms of reliability. I purchased my Santa Fe 2.0T FWD about a month ago after extensive research. Very pleased with the purchase overall. Cant beat the value and it is true that this thing looks, feels, and drives like a European car. No surprise -- the chief design engineer was hired away from BMW and formerly designed the X5. I do mostly city driving on it and still have my second car, but so far so good. Gas mileage at 20mpg is terrible considering I dont drive aggressively.