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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  Love my Santa Fe - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Travers - April 7 - 11:26 am

  I bought the CUV this June and love the way that it drives compared to my 10 year old Dodge Durango. More zip, much better mileage, with more HP (242 vs 230). I love the XM radio feature. Good A/C chills quick, Aluminum engine warms up much quicker than my old 5.2 V8.

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  Great so far - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By New2007Fe - April 1 - 11:36 pm

  Just purchased new 07 Fe. Love the styling, interior space, and the smooth confident power of the 3.3 V6. Handles well with little body roll. Vehicle would be perfect if not for a squeaking noise in the passenger dash area and passenger seat (both showed up at about 250 mile). Service is working with Hyundai to find repair. I would totally recommend this vehicle!!

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  Great running SMALL suv - 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By drivenamerican - April 1 - 6:55 pm

  Our Santa Fe was bought used and now has 102,000 miles on it. The 2.7 liter is underpowered but gets great gas mileage. There are a few design flaws such as the third brake light hanging in the rear window, and the back 3 spark plugs are under the intake manifold, changing them is expensive and a pain. the last thing is the drivers seat does not go back far enough for taller drivers.

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  Hard ride on rough roads of Northeast. - 2006 Hyundai Azera
  By Daniel - March 31 - 4:33 am

  This replaces a 1997 Lexus ES300. It lacks refinement and ride of that car but is peppy, an exceptional value, and is very stylish. The directional handling is not as good as the nine year old Lexus. On smooth roads the ride is very quiet but on the rough pavement of the Northeast the Azera ride is hard. You hear and feel every bump, not typical of the firm ride on entry level luxury cars. I should done a longer test drive. There are several quirky items in the electronics including headlights, memory features, and dash light dimming. Overall, the Azera is a significant step forward for Huyndai but they are going to need 1 or 2 model years of refinements to make it great car .

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  great buy - 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By the great one - March 28 - 5:50 pm

  This is the best, most fun to drive, well styled, clean running car I have ever owned. Other than scheduled maintenance, only other repair was a new fuel sensor.

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  love mu SUV! - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By karen harps - March 27 - 7:10 pm

  I love this car with the exception of getting in and out. The previous owner put bigger tires on it which makes getting in and out difficult for a short person. It had 63,546 miles on it when we bought it used. So within 6 months of owning the car i will have to have timing belt replaced! That should been done refore car was ever put out to be sold!

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  Sweet car - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Jimi - March 25 - 10:00 am

  I see them everyday bc i sell them...so i fell in love with them very quickly! Just bought mine today!

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  Great Drive - Best Quality and Pricing - 2005 Hyundai TUCSON
  By dolomite - March 24 - 12:36 am

  A very good vehicle. As compared to other SUV/Crossover type vehicles (RAV4, CRV), this one definately outperforms over them all. Hyundai is slowly, but surely and definately improving their image and quality of thier vehicles - and the Tuscon is proof of it.

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  My new shiny red car - 2016 Hyundai Elantra
  By Nicole - March 21 - 8:49 pm

  I have owned many different vehicles in the past include two Grand Cherokees, a Firebird, Escape, Land Rover, and a Corolla. My new 2016 Elantra is by far the BEST car Ive ever owned! The Value Edition offers many bells and whistles that Ive not been used to on other vehicles Ive owned. I was highly impressed with the heated seats, touch screen radio, Bluetooth, back up camera, sunroof, and XM. With Hyundai, they give you 90 of XM subscription for free. However, I already had XM in my Corolla so all I had to do was transfer the service from the Onyx box to the vehicle itself. I absolutely love the fact that my vehicle includes hands free calling. I travel A LOT for my job and being on the phone while driving is part of my everyday job. I was not even planning on really buying a vehicle the day I purchased my 2016 Elantra. My Corolla had just turned 100,000 miles and was starting to really show its wear and tear. I went into the dealer to look at a 2013 model that I saw for sale online. My luck-they had just sold the car that morning. The salesperson asked me to consider buying new due to the warranty and the fact that a new car was not much more expensive than a used one. He asked me what features I was looking for in a car and after I told him, he suggested the value edition for me. After looking at the car and starting the engine, I fell in love with it instantly. It had so many features! After taking it for a test drive, I knew I was going to purchase the car that day. The only changes I would make to the vehicle is the power of acceleration. (I am cognizant of the fact that its only a 1.8 4 cylinder and that its not going to have much power). However, it gets great gas mileage despite not having a lot of power. The only other feature I would add is power seats. The handling is perfect and it has an extremely smooth ride. The sound system is excellent. I will definitely buy Hyundai again!

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  great car - 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe
  By Vooch - March 20 - 11:43 pm

  This is a great bargain of a car. I have yet to break it in but the V6 is strong. Ive driven front wheel drive cars for more than 10 years so its nice to get back into a rear wheel drive car. The driving dynamics are so much better. I have the Grand Touring and the ride is a good compromise. It doesnt beat you up but it handles great. I cant wait till gen 2.