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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  Lovely little brute - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By skuuter - October 8 - 2:00 am

  Ive owned several "sports" cars since the mid seventies and this is one of the few that I not only love to drive, but also feel absolutely confident in. That may seem an oxymoron, but this car is so well built and handles so well, I respectfully disagree with many professional reviewers who seem to think the car is lacking performance-wise. The Tiburon has plenty of oomph and I look forward to every drive including the twisties.

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  2002 Elantra = Cheap fun - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By Bill Carr - October 8 - 2:00 am

  Love the features! Need better shift linkage (smoother) and give the car a horn, not a buzzer!

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  Happy so far! - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By Jessica - October 8 - 2:00 am

  have to say that the biggest appeal to this car is the fact that not many people even know about it yet, it hasnt become the standard like the honda civic

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  2002 Sonata LX - 2002 Hyundai Sonata
  By gordon - October 8 - 2:00 am

  Ive owned a Tiburon for a year and a half, so I wasnt afraid of the quality. The Sonata seems to be a well built car. It drives smooth and is quiet inside. After owning several GM products that ended up costing me a fortune on repairs, I decided to get a vehicle that had some warranty to it, and a company that would stand behind it. I am very satisfied with the hyubdai products, and can safely say if the quality stays up, my next vehicle will most likely be another hyundai.

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  Second time Hyundai owner - 2013 Hyundai Elantra GT
  By furunofan - October 7 - 3:33 pm

  I traded in my 2005 Tucson that I purchased new for this 2013 Elantra GT. The car is really comfortable and has a nice quiet ride for a small car. The value isnt as good as I recieved when purchasing the 2005 Tucson. I think the value of the dollar has decreased to the point imports are having problems keeping the value they offered just 5 years ago. The steering is great. I wanted a Ford Focus until I test drove one and found the steering radius was not what I expected from a small car. The GT steering has three modes and all drive really well. I had problems getting a manual transmission but I didnt want to pay the xtra for an automatic.

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  2009 Genesis Review - 2009 Hyundai Genesis
  By Derrick - October 7 - 1:20 pm

  This is a great looking car. I got lots of compliments. But the car simply has the worst ride of any vehicle Ive owned. My Toyota Camry rides way better. Im going for the second time to the dealer to see if anything can be done, but Im not confident. I cant see myself driving this car for three years-Id get rid of it tomorrow if I could. Very, very disappointing.

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  Best Hyundai effort yet - 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe
  By Agent Cook - October 7 - 2:00 am

  I got this car in March after reading up about it. I owned 2 tiburons previous to this car, and I must say this is the best Hyundai I drove yet. The handling is great and the power from the Turbo is excellent. For the money, it cant be beat.

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  Great car for the money - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By Marc - October 7 - 2:00 am

  I commute 80 round-trip to work and average 32 mpg in hilly terrain. No problems so far. This car is very comfortable, roomy, and quiet. I looked at comparable Toyota, Kia, Nissan and Chevrolet products and none compared to Hyundai.

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  Never again - 2007 Hyundai Entourage
  By Dennis James - October 6 - 4:40 pm

  We have an 2007 Entourage and wish we could get rid of it, the A/C clunks when you first start the engine, something a $28,000.00 new van should not do. After replacing the A/C twice, Hyundai finally said that was normal in all Entourages, so live with it, and we found that when the Rep from Hyundai in California makes a decision, thats as far as it goes. Great company policy, if I were to lose my job, they would take it back, but have a serious problem with their product and its tough! I have a 2006 KIA(sister company) Sorento with 17,000 more miles on it then the Entourage, and the KIA rides, drives and sounds better then the Hyundai. Did I mention it sounds like a tank when cold.

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  Hooray for Hyundai! - 2007 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Sunny Raye - October 6 - 4:26 pm

  Bought it for my wife and daughter, now they cant get me out of it! This is my 3rd Hyundai acquisition this year, Sonata for business and Sonata for personal use. Hyundai is on a roll, keep up the good work.