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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  Great City Car - 2004 Hyundai Elantra
  By Millertime - June 15 - 1:54 am

  This is by far the best city car- for the money - I have ever owned. I still get 28 MPG combined even with 69k on it. There is plenty of power to hold your own on the freeway, or get around that annoying person with his turn signal on for miles. Turn on the AC and its a different story. The power flat lines, and the gas mileage heads to the basement. The interior is roomy - better than my wifes 08 Civic -but pretty plain (O CD player in GLS). And you cannot seem to ever find a balance between having the steering wheel at a comfortable hight, and still see all of the instrument cluster. The trunk is huge, and will hold several full sized suit cases. All in all its a great car.

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  Great SUV for the investment - 2010 Hyundai TUCSON
  By senni - June 14 - 9:36 pm

  I purchased my Tuscon in Jan 2010. I looked at and test drove a Rogue, Rav-4, and Matrix. I wasnt thinking about a Tuscon until I saw one in the showroom. After test driving one I was sold. It had more features than the other models I looked at and cost less! It has ample storage for my needs, has AWD for the rain and snow, and looks great. It even had better gas mileage, which for me is very important since I commute everyday. In the winter my average was around 22-23 real world miles but now that its warmer my average has been 24-25 MPG. On a recent 5 hour trip I averaged 30 MPG! Id like to note that the AWD is 4WD on demand and rides well in bad weather. Id recommend to anyone.

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  Loving my Elantra - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By LAL - June 14 - 5:07 pm

  This car has been awesome!. I got this used with 8k miles for less than $10K and now it has almost 100k miles. Never had a mechanical problem. Performance and pickup is the best in his class. I love the handling, the exterior design and interior space. Could have more interior features. I went to the dealer this weekend to have a full checkup (just in case I want to sell it) and they found nothing at all. So Im thinking on keeping it for another 3 or 4 years, it depreciates too much (because the brand and not the quality), now is worth around 3K.

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  beware - 2007 Hyundai Elantra
  By tom - June 14 - 1:13 am

  have to replace bulbs all the time @ 20,067 miles NEW TRANSMISSION 4 days in the shop wipers replaced numerous times im 61 yrs old owned alot of new cars in my time this is by far the worst read all reviews and research all said best car in class even still they use these terms we all had to laugh at these comments by so called professional as we waited @ customer sevice wondering what would be next hey got me out of yard work and to you pros have some integrality then ill get the grass cut !!!!!

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  I am satified with my investment - 2006 Hyundai TUCSON
  By TucsonFan - June 12 - 12:56 pm

  I have driven my Tucson for about 1300 mils now and I am fully satisfied. Fuel economy is a bit low in city but it’s a V6 so I am ok. Every thing is standard so what I feel that its value for money. No need to pay around two or three grands extra for Honda or Toyota.

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  So far so good - 2008 Hyundai Entourage
  By So far so good - June 11 - 11:45 pm

  Bought this vehicle three weeks ago at an awesome price since they are discontinuing it. Couldnt beat the price and all the features we got. Been very happy with it so far seeing as how I didnt want another minivan.

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  Love the silver fox sonata!!!!!! - 2003 Hyundai Sonata
  By BROCK - June 11 - 4:21 pm

  Its good. Scratch that its AMAZING!!

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  Best car for the money - 2005 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Kristen - June 11 - 3:43 pm

  I think this car is one of the best cars Ive driven in quite a while. It has great pick up for a SUV. I also like the warranty. It is definitely a car I would buy again.

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  very refined suv - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By les - June 11 - 11:50 am

  a much better design then the earlier years and one of the best looking suvs on the market today.

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  No Longer A Hoopty - 2003 Hyundai Sonata
  By Txborn50 - June 11 - 10:00 am

  This vehicle is a wonderful ride. Stylish.I am proud to be a Hyundia owner with extra money in MY pocket.