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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  good cheap car - 2002 Hyundai Accent
  By fredou - November 25 - 2:00 am

  Great car for the price. It looks nice and the interior is very comfortable. The design looks nice, and for the price! Perfect for a student with a small budget. Better get this new car for a cheap price, instead of buying a Honda that prolly has a beated up engine.

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  Excellent SUV - 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By paulie - November 24 - 10:00 am

  The Hyundai Santa Fe is an excellent SUV at a low price. It combines a comfortable ride with secure handing and many standard features at a low price. But acceleration and fuel economy dont match up to todays standards. Overall it is a great vehicle and I recommend it to anyone wanting a small SUV. Reliability is great, too.

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  Just got it - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By lillapoyka - November 24 - 10:00 am

  Just got the Elantra to replace my crappy built ford Tempo. This is my first new car. I was in love with the MINI cooper but what you want and what you can get and still afford to feed yourself are often two different things. When I got in this guy I was amazed with the space. It is about the same size outside as my wifes sentra but inside... wow... this baby is huge. I feel like Im driving a luxury care much bigger than this really is. Im happy and when I make my monthly payment and still have cash in my account Im sure Ill be even more happy.

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  nice interior, poor mileage - 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By wkottas - November 20 - 4:25 pm

  After looking at several different SUVs, we decided upon the Sante Fe. You will be challenged to find a different SUV with the options provided on the Sante Fe. The passengers in the back also have heated seats that they control; very nice. The steering is crazy sensitive, and the mpg is no where close to the advertised or what is displayed on the dash; do the math! (#miles / #gal put in). Overall, disappointed Hyundai STILL having mileage issues. I commute weekly (120 miles round trip). The average mpg shown on the dash is always higher than the actual by 3-5mpg! Been to shop multiple times and dealer agrees there is a problem. overall, I average 22mpg

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  Loved my Santa Fe - 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By JennHenz - November 19 - 10:33 pm

  My Santa Fe was the best driving vehicle Ive owned. It got fair gas mileage for an SUV (19-23 MPG). The car was totaled in an accident (neither our or the cars fault) but my husband and I both walked away without a scratch. My husband is 6 tall and didnt like to drive it because even with the seat all the way back, his knees were still in the dash. It wouldve been better with an MP3 player.

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  Electrical problems - 2008 Hyundai Veracruz
  By Dont do it. - November 19 - 6:33 pm

  I researched this vehicle before buying and found that all but one were great ratings. The one bad stated that he had electrical problems from the very beginning. Well, I am the second. After only 10 months, the alarm would trigger when ever I unlocked and opened the door. They replaced a circuit card. Then, the steering wheel would not tilt. They replaced the switch twice and then the steering column. Then it would not tilt nor telescope so they replaced a circuit card. Three weeks later, its doing it again. The DVD volume is much louder than the radio and they cant fix it. The fan under the hood is very loud sometimes. I am getting lots of rattles and wind noise now.

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  Its a car, nothing special - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By Ken - November 16 - 10:00 am

  Bought the car for the wife and the title is basically her comment. The performance is OK, but not exceptional and it gets worse on bad roads - seems to be engineered for smooth rides on smooth roads.

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  Pleased with Hyundai Santa Fe - 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By kilaban - November 16 - 6:46 am

  After 50,000 miles were still very pleased with our 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe. Aside from some rough shifting that required some transmission-related computer updates, weve had no real trouble. Gas mileage is lower than expected, but the overall build quality inside and out were still pleased with. No squeaks, rattles, or strange noises, and the road noise is low.

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  Accent - 2000 Hyundai Accent
  By hwdan1 - November 16 - 2:00 am

  Good car for the money

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  love it - 2007 Hyundai Veracruz
  By Nickie - November 16 - 1:40 am

  We purchased one of the first ones sold love it, minus the paint on exterior is thin chips easy, few interior flaws, weather stripping bad otherwise I truly love it.