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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  16 verses 19 in gas mileage! - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By kf - September 13 - 10:33 am

  Loved my new Sante fe until I realized the real gas mileage I was getting!Only getting 16 miles per gallon in town,very dissapointed.Says on sticker 19 to 21 in town.And Im no lead foot.If I had to do it over I would pick something that was much more economical.Big difference in what I was expecting.

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  Great Car - 2010 Hyundai Elantra Touring
  By cerar627 - September 13 - 3:03 am

  Ive only had this car a few days, but I am very impressed. My dad recommended it as a bigger option for my family which I was a skeptic of the "wagon" at first. After test driving and taking it home, I am hooked. It looks a lot better in person than in pictures. The ride is rougher than regular sedans, but not bad. CD/Radio/XM system is great and the layout overall is fantastic.

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  Watch out for some things you may miss - 2006 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Heath - September 10 - 2:03 pm

  We traded in our 4 year old Jeep Liberty Sport for this Hyundai Tucson to save on gas and get into a newer vehicle. Hyundai makes great, sporty cars and SUVs. If we have one complaint, it would be that they use TAPE, yes thats right, TAPE on their window trims. So, dont park near anyone or a simple scuff from the door of another vehicle can start the tape coming off and leave a very unsightly window trim for you to have to fix (since they dont cover it under warrantee. The good news is that it will only cost you $100 each time you need to get the TAPE fixed because they need to redo the entire tape around the window trim each time!

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  very happy - 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By caper - September 7 - 4:20 pm

  Originally we wanted an X3, but found dollars for value way out of whack. We then test drove a Rav4, Escape, Murano, Compass, Equinox and finally on a why not premise the Hyundai. It was miles ahead in quality look/feel, and features. I seriously dont see how pro reviewers can favor a Toyota which felt like a tin can, and bounced all over the place to this. Warranty/Finance rates and simply pleasure of driving sets this apart. If you havent drove one try it out youll be pleasantly surprised. We were so much we bought is 7 days later. Keep up the good work Hyundai...you may have made a customer for life.

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  2010 genesis cpe-wait for 2011 - 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe
  By cindy - September 6 - 10:00 am

  I have had my car about three months. I had to take in shop for bluetooth microphone to be replaced. Now I have sputtering, dying, and one time the radio wouldnt even turn on. I love driving it. I maybe get 20 mpg in town. the handling is great, I customized mine and get lots of looks but notoriety is wearing off more with each problem.

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  Gutsy, Sharp, Eye Catcher - 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Ray Ethier - September 6 - 10:00 am

  So far so good went from a Toy Camry always wanted a SUV AWD. Cant wait for snow. Choppy ride and not best gas mileage yet only 1200 miles. Comfortable and love the blue tooth. Eye catcher black in color, nice mags.

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  Best - 2004 Hyundai Elantra
  By strawberry - September 2 - 2:00 am

  Good car, runs good, best warrenty, good gas mileage, good styling, reliable,runs smooth, great second car

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  Its ok. - 2006 Hyundai Elantra
  By Kate - August 31 - 3:52 pm

  My husband I bought our Hyundai when our Pontiac died. After owning it for about six months now I would say that its "ok". Not "great". Just "ok". We havent had any problems with the engine, we did have a defective tire that went flat for no reason and was completely shredded inside. We have had to call the roadside service that comes with the car for them to jump the battery after we went on vacation for a week and left it at the airport. But other than minor things its been alright. The price is great esp. considering what you get.

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  Very comfortable! - 2004 Hyundai Elantra
  By MikeCa - August 28 - 10:00 am

  This car has been great and has everything I wanted at a phenomenal price and the warranty is incomparable! Only problems were with alternator/battery that went dead in first 10 months. Radio also just glitched out and went dead. Both problems were repaired very quickly and congenially! Very happy!

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  Car on the budget that do what you need - 2005 Hyundai Elantra
  By TOM - August 27 - 2:03 am

  I had a Kia Sorento EX 2005 and trade it for this little gas saver. I bought the Elantra with 24000 miles on it and now I had put 44000 miles on it without a problem. I had the car for 1 year and still going strong. I was driving 37 miles one way to work and I wasnÂ’t going to deal with the Kia SorentoÂ’s gas usage. So, I started looking for a compact car to save gas money. I started looking at Honda, Toyota and other import brand. After my research I decided to buy the Elantra due to price. I like the car so far, no problem what so ever. It has enough horse power to do what I need and the gas usage is great. I get 26-27 city and 30-33 freeway and mine is a automatic GLS.