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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  Head Turner - 2007 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Herb Schlichting - January 6 - 5:40 am

  Test drove Nissians, Toyotas and every other foreign sports car in the $30,000 price range or less. When I drove Tiburon I first noticed that my 62" 245 pound body was actually comfortable and the interior design and the quality of workmanship from the padded dash leather to the REAL leather wrap steering wheel to the high quality soft REAL leather seating and the wrap around dash and console. The car in solid made you dont feel like you just purchased and sheet of plastic on wheels, Im very impressed with the exterior as well excellent front and rear design and lighting, excellent drive lighting as well. I luv the gas mileage also 6 cyl. 35 mpg. Highway, 22 in town

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  Excellent with one exception - 2010 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Suetalk - January 6 - 12:33 am

  This vehicle is fun to drive and an excellent buy as long as you dont actually expect the Bluetooth to be functional. Youll hear your callers but they will have a horrible time hearing you as it picks up all road noise, etc. Dealership didnt believe me but I gave them the blogs from the internet. They checked with manufacturer who said they have received many other complaints and were looking for a software upgrade to solve the problem.

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  Best car ever - 1999 Hyundai Sonata
  By harrelson marie - January 4 - 9:01 pm

  i love this vehicle this is by far the best vehicle that i have ever owned

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  One Fine Machine - 2007 Hyundai Accent
  By Wayne - January 4 - 6:25 pm

  This is one fine little car that does everything that I ask of it. Its not a drag racer, but it gets up to speed in a deceivingly smooth manner. It will cruise nicely on the freeways at 70+, and is agile in city traffic. Its size makes it easier to find parking a space. Hyundai packed a lot of room inside this coupe. Every instrument, knob and lever is located where the driver expects to find it. Gas mileage is excellent, as advertised. The air conditioning does its job well, and road noise is not an issue. At about $14K delivered, this car is inexpensive but it certainly is not "cheap." People can look at my little blue Hyundai coupe, but they will just have to go find their own!

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  Inexpensive Luxury - 2006 Hyundai Azera
  By masterling - January 4 - 3:37 pm

  I have been used to driving high end/expensive cars. But I took a leap of faith, ignored the Hundai logo and bought the Azera. I find that the ride is smooth and the interior is very comfortable. It is appointed nicely and appears to be well constructed. I have also gotten many complements from coworkers, customers and friends who have been in it. For the price it cannot be beat.

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  Awsome Car! - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By djaz89 - January 4 - 6:53 am

  This car is amazing, recently traded in my jeep compass for it. Love the leather, it does not feel cheap some other models do. Love the gas milage as well, i am avering 27 combined highway and city. All the features are nice such as the steering wheel controls and reverse camera. I love the metallic paint, i have a white sonata and it glistens all the time. The only problem as stated before, is that it seems to want to pull to the left a little on its own. It happens more often at speeds between 20-40 though. Overall, great car with a smooth ride and great luxury features. I get asked all the time if it is really a hyundai, or a lexus or bmw

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  One more thing! - 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By coconut - January 4 - 4:20 am

  Forgot to add. Gas mileage from the get-go has been close to 23 mpg in mixed driving. Works for me!

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  A lot of SUV for the money; very happy! - 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By JH675 - January 3 - 11:56 pm

  I came from a 2008 Mariner Premier, this SUV is superior in every way. Smooth ride, quiet, and very comfortable and the included amenities are unbelievable for the price; avg mpg, outside temp, steering wheel radio controls, blue tooth, wood grain trim, storage everywhere. These seats are VERY comfortable, this was the biggest surprise for me. This is also a very, very smooth transmission. At 70 mph in central FL, I am getting between 23.5 to 24 mpg on a brand new engine...but that is also what I get in city driving. The vehicle is better than the 20 mpg city rating but less than the 28 mpg highway rating; Hyundai ought to address this and not use calculations. Give this SUV a look!

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  better than people say - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Jamie - January 3 - 11:36 pm

  I bought my 03 tib in late 05 with 64,000 miles. The only problem I had was the drivers side window motor went ( which also happened the following year) and the passenger side wouldnt unlock. But that was cheaply fixed. The following summer my ac was leaking somewhere, but if you fill it it lasts you through the summer. Now at 108,000 miles I have replaced the belts and such that goes with that, and have had no issues. I feel the transmission is going slowly but thats it.

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  My Tuson - 2005 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Steve G - January 3 - 3:30 am

  The tuson is one of the nicest small SUV I found. I looked at a lot of them including the RAV4 and the Honda CRV, the tuson has lots more room and the the ride is one of the best I found. Was able to get the gas millege up to 25 city and 32 hwy with amsoil 0W-30 and a K&N airfilter.