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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  like it alot - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By lizzy - December 7 - 8:13 pm

  we bought this car on black Friday, after test driving several others including the 4 cylinder Sonata. The V6 rocks! It was preowned with 6100 miles, but when i drove it the first time, i knew this would be the car for me. We were strongly interested in the Jetta turbo, but after driving the Sonata, felt the Jetta was overpriced. I totally love all the gadgets in the limited. Had the bluetooth added. nice. i have a few friends with the same car and they love theirs too. I do a long commute everyday and this car has made it so much nicer than my Saturn Vue.

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  Very Satisfied - 2005 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Christian - December 7 - 8:00 pm

  Love it. Super reliable, especially coming from a Ford. Gets tons of looks from people. Looks more expensive than it really is. Biggest complaint? Fixed mast antenna. Should be integrated into rear window.

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  Hyundai Finally Reaches Luxury Class - 2007 Hyundai Azera
  By JAK - December 7 - 5:03 pm

  Traded my 2000 Lexus GS300 on this 2007 Azera. The Azera is of solid build, very quiet in the cabin, has very comfortable seats, and pretty strong amenity package. Whilst is is not quite as luxurious inside as the current mid & upper end Lexus, not quite as fun to drive as the BMW & Mercedes, at $10-15K less, it should cause anyone stretching to buy one of these vehicles or one considering an Infiniti or Acura to take pause and review this car. Even my kids asked who Hyundai was until they rode in this very roomy car. It is truly a winner and will put Hyundai on the map of near-luxury and luxury cars in the future!!!

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  2005 Tucson - 2005 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Brian James - December 7 - 1:43 pm

  Looked at many vehicles in the compact segment including the Toyota Rav4, Honda CRV, Saturn Vue. I was impressed with the initial quality of the Tucson and the features that were included in the base price. But the thing that won me over the most was the dealership and the low pressure, freindly atmosphere involved in the purchase. They made this purchase the most enjoyable of the 30 vehicles that I have purchased in the past. This is a great vehicle and I am enjoying it completely.

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  Bad Reviews - 2012 Hyundai Veloster
  By morseplace - December 7 - 7:33 am

  I have read a lot of bad reviews on this car but I must say I bought my veloster brand new and havent had a single issue with it. Yes the tires are garbage but you will find these crappy tires on many new vehicles. I havent had to replace mine yet with 40,000km but maybe next year. I rotate them every 10,000km. My car has never been back to the dealership partly because I have never had any issues with it and in part to the fact I dont trust dealerships. So I do all my own maintenance. The fuel economy is great and having a manual transmission I am able to find the power if I need it. All in all I am very happy with this car!

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  Great Car ! - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By JudyM - December 7 - 4:50 am

  I have a long commute. Its comfortable and fun to drive. Im getting 28-30 miles on the hwy. Great exceleration.

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  After a year....a good choice - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Luisito - December 7 - 12:23 am

  After a year, my Santa Fe has been extremely reliable. The power from the 3.5 is adequate if not outstanding. The engine is "silky-smooth" and not noisy. I like the interior design as it is very ergonometric and almost everything is accessible.The brakes and stopping distance are very good for this type of SUV. The A/C design is perfect for me and my family, as the vents are out of your face and we truly like that.

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  SO FOND OF IT - 2007 Hyundai Azera
  By BOM DAD - December 6 - 6:23 pm

  This is it. For this value, Bill Gate would drive Azera. I am completely satisfied with 07 Azera because it drives so smooth and powerfully. Infinity audio system is better than Bose system of FX 35 my wife drives. I test drove ES350, 300M, BMW 530i and so on, but this is the BEST! I look forward to meeting Genesis ( advanced from Azera, I hope )

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  Its Fabulous!! - 2007 Hyundai Elantra
  By Bethesda - December 5 - 4:26 pm

  I love driving my Elantra!! When I was car shopping I was deciding between a Honda Civic & Toyota Corolla. Just before I had decided between the two, Hyundai came out with the New 2007 model for their Elantra. It looked very similar to the Civic, but it was signifiantly cheaper. So, I got the Elantra in January in the color that I wanted. Its Fabulous!!

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  noisey? no power, guzzler - 2001 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By julie crowley - December 5 - 2:00 pm

  i love my santa fe, believe it or not from the title. But it has no acceleration to speak of and is very noisey. It drinks petrol and costs me a fortune to keep. although it got me through 2foot flood water with no problems at all recently.