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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  Tiburon is the Bomb - 2007 Hyundai Tiburon
  By luvintheride - August 17 - 1:26 pm

  I have only had the car for two days but I love it so far, as soon as I drove it off of the lot I loved it.

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  What a hoot! - 2007 Hyundai Accent
  By Mark - August 16 - 3:53 pm

  Bought the SE with sun and sound pkg for my daughter. Cute as a button and pretty darn fun to drive for a little roller skate. Reminds me favorably of the 1983 GTI I had in my youth. Whats not to like? ABS, a gazillion airbags, superb visibility, practical space in a tiny package, great tunes, fun, cute, inexpensive and sips petrol.

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  New 2010 Limited Tucson - 2010 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Jcdlg76 - August 16 - 8:40 am

  We just bought our 2nd Hyundai in the last 3 months. After buying a limited 2011 Sonata my wife started to look at Hyundai in a whole different way. After looking at chevy and gmc, vw. Hyundai was the Big winner! We only paid $23,900 for the Limited and if we had bought some other one with the same options we would have paid like 30K. And the warranty and the lower interest just made a simple deal. We are sold on Hyundai. Now we open our garage and we have 2 Hyundai looking Nice.

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  Pretty Great Vehicle - SO FAR! - 2007 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Thor - August 15 - 6:56 pm

  I bought this in February of 07. Had a baby on the way so needed something besides my Mustang to tote a kid. Overall this was a great choice, made after a lot of research. I find the milage to be great, cargo room surprisingly large and driving comfort to be outstanding. I also tested a Santa Fe and even though its the next "bigger" model, I felt it had less headroom than the Tucson. On the downside, it does seem a little underpowered, especially with the air conditioning running. I also dont like that the power supplies (lighter and rear cargo area) dont have power unless the engine is running. That sometimes makes it difficult to charge the cell phone. Overall, I dig it!

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  Hyundai came a long way - 2003 Hyundai XG350
  By Victor Myong - August 13 - 2:00 am

  Ive been driving this car for about a year now. Prior to this, Ive owned Acura Legend for 7 years, so I may represent a hard critic. Hyundai came a long way, but it still has a way to go to get to the level of Acura and Lexus. However, considering the fact that this car costs $15K less than the Legend, I have to say this car deserves a good score. I wouldnt say its fun to drive, then again, most sedans are not. Nevertheless, you get treated with nice & quite interior, comfortable drive, and plenty of power. For dollar for dollar, I would say this was a good buy for me.

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  Lovin my new hyundai - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By lovemyhyundai - August 13 - 2:00 am

  I love this car! I just found out that I actually got a better deal than the edmunds TMV which makes me love this car even more! I was able to get all the options and still pay less than I would with any of Hyundais competitors.

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  Fun economical car!!! - 2007 Hyundai Accent
  By Dagalorn - August 12 - 8:23 pm

  This car has what you need and nothing that you dont! If you are looking for an high quality, well made economical, fun to drive vehicle...the Accent is what you want. I love it!!

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  Rain - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By Steve - August 10 - 10:33 pm

  Absolutely amazed with the quality of this beast. 4000 miles no rattles no problems. Couple of complaints minor - dont crack the windows in the rain --you will get wet -- the elbow padding could be better -- and the electric steering - I seem to be chasing it alot to keep it straight. 32.7 ave mpg 80 miles a day highway 5 city. Pretty good not as good as my civic but much more comfortable.

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  Surprise - 2004 Hyundai XG350
  By zuberi - August 10 - 3:23 pm

  I needed a car because my Lincoln died. This car was the right price and had some features I have become accustomed to having. I am surprised that it is handling well, feels comfortable, looks good, get stares from people who cant believe it is a Hyundai. I am also surprised the editors gave it such a bad rating. I have driven many cars on extended road trips and have owned Lincolns, Volvo 850, Accords; and this car ranks well among them. The Crystler 500M was the most fun to drive, the Subaru XT6 was second and this is third. Quality is along the lines of the Avalon. I drive my cars hard and it is keeping pace with me with no troubles yet (knock on wood) and I have nearly 40,000 miles.

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  GREAT CAR - 2005 Hyundai Accent
  By LEWIS - August 10 - 1:44 pm

  i have owned this car for 18 months and it is exceptional.. consistently gets 34-35 mpg with a/c running all the time... hard on bumps and slow take-off but thats the trade off for great milage..have not had one thing wrong that required me take the car back to the dealer...