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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  Snazzy Azzy - 2013 Hyundai Azera
  By Livewiremd - September 21 - 6:59 pm

  I am a previous owner of a new 2006 Azera Limited. That car was newly re-designed and different so I gave it a try .....with NO regrets! I still own that one and it is running trouble free at 160,000 miles with very minimal service of any type. I admit I sometimes skimped on oil changes too! When the newly designed 2012 model came out, I was so impressed by the "look" that I kept my eye on them. As an excuse to go shopping again, I gave my 2006 to my oldest and purchased a 2013 from a dealer with 44,000 miles. This car has it all! I looked and found a "midnight blue" which is spectacular! It actually looks like different colors depending on the angle of the sun. A bit hard to keep clean but it is beautiful and sets off the chrome accents around the car. The 2006 Azera came with the 3.8 L V6 while the 2013 has a 3.3 L GDI V6. The smaller engine seems almost as smooth and powerful as the larger but it has increased horse power and I can get 32 MPG highway at 80 MPH! The cabin is more like a jet airplane with great materials and feel. Seats are extremely nice and the AC cooled seats really give a nice effect when youre hot. There are a lot of options in this car and it took me a few weeks to learn them all. The technology package throws in the kitchen sink. The full size tinted panorama roof is IMPRESSIVE! This may overwhelm people who prefer more basic controls but I love them. The sound system is 550W and powerful. May think of upgrading the speakers. The car even has a cooled glove box!! One of my biggest complaints about the 2006 Azera was poor headlights, even with xenon bulbs. My 2013 has pure white HID low beams which really improve visibility. One thing to note is that in USA, a used Hyundai 100K mile warranty reduces to 60K but that still beats most makers and I had any warranty issues on the 2006 fixed immediately and for free every time. My main issues with the 2013 are (improved) but still numb feel at steering and road noise and feel on rough roads with the stock tires. If this car is as reliable as the 2006 then I will be back for a third Hyundai in the future. If you like to be unique and stand out in the crowd, and impress all who ride with you, this car has the most bang for the buck and can be found reasonably priced in the used market. This car is for someone who likes to be different from the crowd and I personally think the 2013 Azera looks better that the newer Hyundais or Genesis models.

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  hoping hyundai is worth it - 2002 Hyundai Sonata
  By bill43 - September 21 - 10:00 am

  I have owned two camrys, the last one for eight years but had a lot of electrical problems with it for the past three years. I needed a new car but I had to buy a more affordable sedan with a v6, I was surprised to see the great styling inside and out of the 2002 sonada,even more impressed with the v-6 shiftronic ona car under $20000, placement of controls and large stereo buttons. My beef,and Im sure many others was the usual b/s games the sales people play. Id rather they go to a no hassle policy like some dealers and post a realistic price on the windshield instead of having to play a game with the sales creeps.

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  Impressive - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By tobsterocks - September 20 - 2:00 am

  Lets not go overboard here and rate this car a 10, anyone who does has no idea how to even spell the word "car". I should probably state that I havent bought this car or even seen it in person, but I know a lot about cars in general. Here we go. Hyundai has improved this car greatly, straying from their previous design (horrible if you ask me) and going more for a cleaner shape. They packed this car with power and went all out on options too, a nice bonus. Unfortunately it is a Hyundai and they do not have quality quite down yet. Re-sale is also going to be disapointing.

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  Very comfort ride but poor gas consumption - 2012 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid
  By gleung81 - September 19 - 10:38 pm

  I was attracted by the high tech package and the exterior design. Very well designed on the looking. But absolutely disappointed with the MPG. I knew the MPG will be off a bit from the sticker, but didnt expect THAT MUCH of a difference. Sticker states 5.2L/100km combined, I am getting 7.1 - 7.3L/100km. This is no where near to the sticker MPG. I am a gentle driver, so its not my driving style issue. Acceleration response time is slow, need to give an extra 1 - 2 second when making a left. I wasnt aware of this when I had my test drive, start to realize as I drive it daily. Not sure if this is common for all hybrid. Alignment is starting to pull to the left after 2 weeks.

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  Canadian version - 2011 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Vonnie - September 19 - 2:00 am

  Very nice SUV considering its my 1st. Nice drive a bit noisy for wind noises. However the gas mileage is not good. I do a lot of hwy driving and get no where close to 30 mph. cant use my usb from Apple for my iphone

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  First SUV Fun - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Norm - September 18 - 9:10 am

  After test driving around 10 other SUVs my top choice was the Santa Fe. We tend to be a low mileage family (currently our 2002 Grand Caravan just turned 40,000), I was looking at something that I plan to drive into the ground. I needed a vehicle to haul our young children and my fishing tackle. So many aspects drew me to the Santa Fe. I would recommend this to anyone.

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  like my santa fe - 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By kim - September 16 - 6:56 pm

  I looked at several crossover suvs as well as conventional suvs and found the Santa Fe to be reasonably priced and the right size for my family of 3.

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  Nice little package - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By afridi99 - September 13 - 11:33 pm

  Nice styling, excellent interior. Two gripes that I have... first, for a 140-hp engine it seems to accelerate quite poorly, especially at higher speeds. Second, for some reason, the brakes squeal the first couple of times you use them after the car has been stationary for some time, say overnight. Otherwise a very decent package for a very reasonable price.

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  Great car - 2004 Hyundai XG350
  By Alfred Padilla - September 12 - 10:00 am

  I love my car so far. Reliability I do not know yet but with a 10year power train and 5 year bumper to bumper makes me comfrotable.

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  Great Car for the Money - 2004 Hyundai Sonata
  By Ed J. - September 12 - 10:00 am

  I have had my 2004 Sonata 2 months now and have had zero problems. Im really impressed by the build quality and the standard features included for the price. Im really glad I didnt spend thousands more on a Honda Accord or Toyota Camry. The Sonata looks much better too in my opinion. The Accord/Camry have extremely bland exterior styling if you ask me.