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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  genesis 2.0 had for two years - 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe
  By cindyropp - January 3 - 7:44 pm

  I bought this car new 2010. I love it, it gets lots of lookes, excellent handling, excellent braking, fun to drive....only minimal repairs. good sound system. Tranmission (manual) no the greatest, seatbelt position is horrible for short people. Back seat folds down but you only get about 20-24 inches of go through space because of design. Gas mileage disappointment for 2.0 4 cyl...21 in city, 24 highway

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  Give me more milage for my gas - 2002 Hyundai XG350
  By george123 - January 1 - 10:00 am

  This is one great car. ive had nissan maxima and bmw 530i.. this is yet the best car i have droven. sure it cant compare to bmw on the performance but for the price of one 530i i can buy 2 XG350L!!! so far i have not taken this car to service. everything is great so far, except it eats too much gas. in conclusion, hyundai has turned their bad reputation of 80s into better. hope to see them become next honda or toyota

• 

  A Lot of Value - 2001 Hyundai Elantra
  By PWesch - January 1 - 10:00 am

  After 18 months and 24000 I still think my Elantra provides the most value in the price class. It could benefit from more low end torque, especially when the AC is on. Otherwise, the car is fun to drive has a comfortable interior. My driver side heated mirror didnt work from day one, but was replaced under warranty and there have been no other problems.

• 

  yea - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By elantraman - January 1 - 10:00 am

  Can not beat it for the price. Compare to similar vehicles not 20K+ cars. Comfortable.

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  Santa All The Way - 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Derek - January 1 - 4:16 am

  I was not to sure about the Santa Fe. However, after owning it for over a year I am very happy. The comfort level is high, it handles well. As for fuel, it is better then my last Van. For the price and standards features this baby should be the king of the road.

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  Good Car - 2005 Hyundai Tiburon
  By MAK - December 30 - 1:50 am

  I love the way this car drives. It is so smooth and quiet. It is a bit heavy, but that can come in handy on windy days!Tid bit of a gas guzzler, but i wouldnt trade it for any 4 cylinder!

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  Fun Little Car - 2005 Hyundai Elantra
  By Luke - December 28 - 6:30 pm

  Initial quality was better than expected. Only disappointment was FM tuner did not work. I like the GTs leather interior and ride. I didnt like the Black Bodyside molding. Its a pain to hand wax around it.

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  Good machine but POOR TIRES - 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By LesP - December 26 - 8:43 pm

  This is my sixth Hyundai, my first suv. All five were great but my suv has more squeaks & rattles than all others combined. The fog light switch gave out twice & lost a tirerod end but overall reliability is good. The OME tires are poor. I highway drive a lot in sales & got half the mileage on the Bridgestone tires that I got on my other Hyundai cars. The dealer said that is the way they are and nothing can be done. So expect to buy a new SUV and the next summer spend $600.00 plus for new summer tires. The tires were not on all year, in this area I use snow tires from early fall to late spring putting more than half the mileage on them and not the tires that came on the machine.

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  Good car for the money - 2012 Hyundai Veloster
  By tri4 - December 26 - 4:40 pm

  I have 11500 miles on my veloster and I believe its everything as advertised. I get about 36 MPG 20% city 80% highway. The interior is cheesy, easy to scratch but what should you expect for the money. Bluetooth works well except when you have 2 phones stored it when you start off it looks for the last one that was stored, fails so you have to mannually connect it. When the moon roof is open it is very loud. The stereo system is good and the ride is smooth. The handling is as good as a mazda miata but the pickup from start is slow but to be expected from a 1.6L. Overall I am very pleased with the vehicle.

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  Squeaks & Rattles - 2008 Hyundai Veracruz
  By RayB - December 23 - 10:40 pm

  I bought the VeraCruz (instead of a Lexus) because of all the great revues that I had read and because of all of the nice features for the price. However, Ive had a terrible time with squeaks and rattles. (Headliner and the overhead vents, door pillars, doors, back seats, etc) The dealer told me that the noises are normal because of all the plastic parts and there was nothing that they could do. In other words, they didnt want to spend a lot of time on it. I dont know if this is just poor engineering or poor build quality, but this is unacceptable in a $35K vehicle. Make sure that the radio has a lot of volume, youll need it.