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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  Reliability, utility, fun. - 2000 Hyundai Elantra
  By Chris wright - July 23 - 2:00 am

  Great car, only 1 problem in 3 years: the CD player has failed twice.

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  THE BIG LIES !!! - 2001 Hyundai XG300
  By jizzag - July 19 - 10:00 am

  The BIG LIES: First, the horsepower is 10 less than the respectable (for the money) 192 HP advertised, which was one my deciding factors in choosing the XG over other cars considered. Second, the "premium sound system" is NOT! Other disappointments: the "service engine" light still on after four service department visits, rusted brake drums, poor front interior lighting, inferior paint job. Im also very suspicious about the odometer accuracy. Otherwise, I still like my car a lot. Features usually found in cars that are more expensive are standard in the XG300L, which make its it still a best buy for the price. And the performance, even at 182 hp, is adequate.

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  What A Surprise! - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By Philip KT - July 19 - 10:00 am

  Theres been an amazing change in Hyundai vehicles. My Loaded 5-speed Elantra GT(5000 miles so far)is a champ, with few indications of a cost about half of an Altima or Passat. Amazingly, except in pure Driving Joy (read: Fahrvegnugen)its inexplicable that even a Jetta costs 5-8K more then an Elantra GT. The only drawbacks were the salesman (unpleasant)and the engine(slow as a horse headed for the glue factory)

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  Value for Money - 1997 Hyundai Accent
  By mkarias - July 17 - 2:00 am

  I bought my car in Sept 2002 with 33K. Although it will be a year, I only have about 37.5K. I mostly use it to drive to the bus stop. For a second car or commuter car, this is perfect. The only problems I had was the "check engine" light which the dealer had to replace the computer module. Had to go 3x before it was finally fixed. Great gas mileage. It is small so for a family, it is no good. I tried putting my 2 kids child seats and it is tight. No power though when trying to accelerate especially if you have AC on.

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  Surprise, surprise, surprise - Korea!!! - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By hockeysignor - July 15 - 10:00 am

  Had it for about 3 weeks. Runs nice, has very good power and looks decent. Mileage has been avg. (21mpg overall, w/about 70% highway). Trade off in mileage for power. Actually has slightly better mileage #s than the 2.7L. This is my 1st Korean auto and Im impressed, so far. Lets see how it wears, down the road. Like the fact that I still do not have any rattles/squeeks, like most US/Japan made vehicles I have owned. Time will tell.

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  Good car - 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By CR - July 14 - 4:06 am

  Had my Hyundai for a few months now and am loving it. There are a couple of things I wish were a little different but overall it is a nice small SUV. The interior and exterior are really nice and I love the way it drives.

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  Save the Money, Buy a Sonata - 2007 Hyundai Azera
  By Jim - July 13 - 10:50 pm

  I Traded my 2006 Sonata in on the 2007 Azera thinking i was upgrading to a higher end car. I get 14-15 mpg city, 18-19 mpg hwy, the same as my 06 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab Hemi, My 06 Sonata got 20 city , 29 hwy with the V-6 . The Sonata was a much better build quality, no rattles, sound system was better, when Azera looses traction on snow , the whole front vibarates as if it will fall apart, something the Sonata never did, exterior trim around windows, plastic overlay on metal is wrinkled. the michelin tires were defective, and at 1,300 miles the dealer replaced them, after 7 attempts to balance. New michelins are perfect, no vibration at all. front speaker in center of dash rattles on 10

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  Good fuel economy. Bad parts - 1998 Hyundai Accent
  By Adriana - July 11 - 2:00 am

  Nice design and economy with bad quality parts. After 56K miles, the (automatic) transmission went out and the resale price is too bad, so it is not worth to fix it. I am now looking for a more reliable vehicle (not a Hyundai). Maybe later models are better or at least the warranty will cover something like this.

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  Hyundai can handle its own - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By mellkirk - July 10 - 2:50 am

  We were skeptical when we bought our Hyundai. When Hyundai first came out years ago, I referred to them as "throw away" cars. I really wanted a Toyota Camry or a Honda Accord, but I couldnt afford one. I liked the new look of the Sonata and i was in the right place at the right time. We love our car. Hyundai is keeping up with its competitors - The Camry and the Accord. We are pleased

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  Good Solid Car - 1995 Hyundai Accent
  By modee - July 10 - 2:00 am

  This was my second Hyundai, and it was a great choice. I have been driving this car for seven years, and it is still like new to me. There have been no unpleasant surprises, just regular maintenance. The ride is a little rough, so that you seem to be going much faster than you are (which is good for folks like me who drive too fast), but other than that it has really great drivability. And, it has a cute butt.