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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  What More Could You Possibly Want? - 2005 Hyundai Elantra
  By Jet Jockey - April 24 - 1:40 pm

  What a great car! I was going to replace my Accent with another Accent, but after seeing and driving the Elantra hatchback, I was hooked. I got out the door for only $13k, and that included a moonroof and CD player. Considering it was only $2200 more than a sparsely equipped Accent GT, it was an incredible bargain. Handles great, extremely comfortable, engine is smooth and powerful, transmission is silky. Its too early to tell about reliability, but if its like my 01 Accent, it will be a gem. My first tankful of gas gave me 35 mpg (mostly highway driving). Stylish car!

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  great car good price - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By go - April 23 - 4:33 am

  I have had this car 2 years its fast and rides good not crampted have room to strech on long run. The back seat is comfortable and easy to get in and out. gas milage good if i could keep my foot out of it 24 to 27 mpg city

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  Pleasantly surprised - 2011 Hyundai TUCSON
  By kako2 - April 22 - 6:15 am

  We were looking for a small or mid size SUV, it was important for us to be reliable, good looking (to help with resale value) and easy to drive/park. We started by researching and test driving the Japanese SUVs, none convinced us so we turn our attention to VW and even BMW, then we looked at Hyundai. I have to tell you the VW and Hyundai models were very comparable in overall appeal but for the price of an entry model Tiguan we ended getting a fully loaded Limited Tucson, and it has better exterior lines. After almost a year we could not be happier with our decision.

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  Extremely exciting - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By EValverde - April 22 - 5:20 am

  In the 4 months since I bought it with 59 miles Ive logged almost 12,000 miles. Easy to manuever. Great braking response on wet weather conditions.

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  Happy - 2004 Hyundai Elantra
  By sandi carano - April 21 - 10:52 pm

  I am very happy with my car I has some small trouble and would buy another when I buy another car

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  I love my car - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By kelly - April 21 - 10:32 pm

  i had an 01 focus se before this, and was in an accident. I was actually just gonna get another focus, but then this car fell into my hands. I am in love with this car. It has everything my focus had plus more. Its a great car and very fun to drive, and would definitely buy another one, unless I moved up to the sonata.

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  Excellent car for the price - 2006 Hyundai Elantra
  By Mike - April 21 - 3:16 pm

  I am very satisfied with my Elantra. It gets great gas mileage with the manual transmission, and has plenty of pickup for an economy car. The seats are comfortable, and I havent heard any rattles inside. Everything seems to be of high quality. The stereo sounds very good, much better than you would expect for a car in this class. Absolutely no complaints so far! For $13,500 after deducting the rebate you cant beat this deal. I have seen photos of what the new version will look like and the current Elantra looks better! Plus the new Elantra will likely have some quirks and design errors (being the first year after a redesign), so I felt more comfortable buying the current 06 model.

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  WAY TO MUCH BANG FOR THE BUCK - 2001 Hyundai Elantra
  By chris - April 21 - 2:54 am

  I purchased this car because of the rising gas prices. I could not afford to drive my Chevy Silverado. I was nervous, because of Hyundais poor quality in the past. I believe now this now probably one of the best investments ever. I now have over 70000k on this WITH NO PROBLEMS EVER, NOT EVEN A RATTLE! I cant wait until they make pickup-Ill be the first in- line.

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  A Sleeper Car for sure! - 2007 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Randolphjo - April 21 - 2:46 am

  When enough people find out about the Tiburon and drive one, Im sure Hyundai could raise the price of this car by $5,000 - possibly more. The car looks like a $30,000 to $35,000 vehicle. I believe that because Korean cars have had a bad reputation in the past that Hyundai is selling this vehicle for thousands of dollars less than a well established auto manufacturer could get for this car. I cant think of a single thing wrong with this vehicle at the price it sells for. I test drove many other cars in the Tiburons price range before purchasing the Tiburon. Im talking about the 2007 Tiburon GT specifically. The car is too much fun to drive, never fails to turn heads! WOW!

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  Tiburon review - 2004 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Sully64 - April 21 - 2:00 am

  The car is sleek, fun, and wants to run! There are times while Im driving many people turn their heads and look twice. When people glance at the car they dont know what to think! People have asked who makes that sports car? It stands out and with the V6 6 speed trying to keep it at a reasonable speed is sure hard at times!