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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  XG 350l My Dream Car - 2002 Hyundai XG350
  By jloatlanta - February 24 - 2:00 am

  I Love This car. I was in the market for a sonata but then saw this on the lot for two thousand more. It drives like a dream and everyone is always complimenting the design. I am very happy and would consider a Hyundai again.

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  Love it - 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Long Ball - February 24 - 2:00 am

  I test drove them all and bought the Santa-Fe and so far Im still very satisfied. everyone talks about it being underpowerd, I guess they are race track drivers because it has all the power a normal person needs.

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  i love this car - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By SaraLee18 - February 24 - 2:00 am

  i love this car. it is roomy andincredibly gas efficient, anddidnt break my bank. I hope to have this car for the next 10 years.

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  I ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO GET ONE! - 2000 Hyundai Accent
  By Erika - February 23 - 11:21 am

  The 2000 Accent GL 4 door/automatic was the first used car Ive bought, but its been the most RELIABLE! Bought it with 45K, now it has 70K on it. I love it so much! Its fun to drive, and more reliable than any of the new vehicles weve ever bought... maybe thats because its a foreign- made car. Those Koreans really know how to make cars! Hyundai (along with Toyota, Honda, and Mitsubishi) knows how to make American automakers look like garbage! I think Ill do all of my car-buying with Hyundai now. Ive been so pleased with their customer service when the seat belt locked up. It wasnt under factory warranty at that point, but they fixed it under the warranty anyway.

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  Cruzing In Style - 2008 Hyundai Veracruz
  By Scott - February 22 - 5:26 am

  Without a doubt the best CUV for the money on the market. Transmission is amazing, dont even fell the shifts. Power from engine is more than adequate. Very comfortable on long rides. Gas milage is also very good - getting better than epa estimates (20.2 in 50/50 driving over 7k miles). Ride is very quiet. Zero problems to date.

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  Floating !!!! - 2005 Hyundai Elantra
  By noliman - February 21 - 12:15 am

  After many , many cars, domestic and abroad, I can tell you only this- FANTASTIC C A R ! Floating feeling, as plain, not ordinary car. BRAVO for Hyundai.

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  2006 Hyundai - 2006 Hyundai Elantra
  By James - February 20 - 11:09 pm

  This is my first new vehicle ever, and I plan to drive this for many years to come. Although I originally intended to purchase the 06 hatchback, it was only available in a manual which I wasnt looking forward to as I drive in a lot of stop-and-go traffic. The driving of the vehicle is fantastic and I have driven some vehicles that cost twice its amount that perform much less effectively. The Elantra has a peppy 4-cyl that proves that this world does not need to be dominated by 6-cyl vehicles it is both peppy and quick when it needs to be. It comes standard with most of the features that are not provided standard on comparable vehicles.

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  Love my Santa Fe - 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Cynthia - February 20 - 4:26 am

  I have had my 2004 Santa Fe for 8 months now. I love it. I have plenty of room for my family of 4. It is great for traveling and shopping. Going through drive through restrants is a breeze. So is loading and unloading groceries from the back. We just got back from a trip to the Smokie Mountains. My husband commented that it was a joy to drive. Smooth handling like a car. The only draw back is when going through parking lots, tourists didnt hear the engine and we had to wait for them to get out of our way.

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  Review - 2003 Hyundai Sonata
  By Gary - February 19 - 2:49 pm

  This is my wifes car, she really enjoys driving the car, it has been good mechanically, although the rack & pinion needed to be replaced, other than that just the regular oil changes. If the car remains problem free for a couple more years, we would look into buying another Sonata.

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  Hyundai does it again - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By slamm215 - February 19 - 5:16 am

  After owning various cars from several different manufactures I can say that this is one of the best looking and driving cars period. Hyundai has made some bold strides as of late and this car is a true testament to that. The one aspect of Hyundai I would criticize was their bland styling but with this new Sonata that goes out the window. Now when I see a Camry or an Accord on the street they just look boring and out dated next to the Sonata. You wont win many races with the 2.4 L engine but its more than adequate and w/35+ MPG on the highway you cant get a better power/mpg ratio.