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:

• 

  Great car thats fun to drive. - 2004 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Optimummind - June 15 - 11:30 pm

  Im the original owner with over 60K miles now and Im still loving this car. It runs great, performance is good, exterior & interior styling is excellent, its comfortable, and the car is easy to maintain for the do-it-yourselfer. The car has been very reliable--more so than my previous Corolla and Civic Ex. Im very impressed with Hyundai on this car. Even after all these years, its great to get compliments on the styling of this car and the looks I get from fellow drivers and pedestrians.

• 

  Love this car - 2004 Hyundai Sonata
  By Mark - June 15 - 6:55 pm

  I also have a 2001 Grand Prix GTP and the ride quality in the sonata is 150% better than my GP. There is hardly any road noise to this car. Im gonna tweak the Air induction box to improve gas mileage a little bit. Thats my only complaint with the car.

• 

  Who needs a BMW 7?? - 2009 Hyundai Genesis
  By mn778 - June 15 - 5:13 pm

  Ive owned bmers since 89. Just had my 05 745 turned in and said goodbye! The Genesis is every bit the luxo ride. The V6 is faster than my 745 was. Every day I fall further in love with it. The tech package is great[much easier than the i Drive!] Best thing is I can buy two genesiss for the price of a loaded 7! Great Car.

• 

  Great car at a bargain price - 2004 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Florida Jeff - June 15 - 10:00 am

  Compared to my Toyota Celica this car is fantastic. The Celica has a cheap interior, average quality of materials and is expensive. For the same money Hyundai gives you a V6 vs a 4, attention to detail inside and out, more standard features and a better warranty. To me it is the best value in this catagory.

• 

  sound build suv - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Frank Zielinski - June 15 - 10:00 am

  Second we owned could have a better tires on it-they were out pretty fast. Otherwise suv is a good buy. STILL HAS THE SAME PROBLEM 2002 DID-HESitates on take off everonce in awhile.

• 

  Our tow vehicle - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By barbnjack - June 15 - 10:00 am

  Great tow, comfortable and fun to drive and comfortable ride too. hoped for better gas mileage.

• 

  Review of 2004 Sante Fe - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Billye - June 15 - 10:00 am

  Excellent comfort for an SUV, good on mileage, roomier than other SUVs of comparable price.

• 

  Love my Santa Fe - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Spike_NY - June 15 - 10:00 am

  Id driven the 2002 & found it very lacking in the get up & go dept and that was in comparison to a `95 Mitsubishi Expo (4 cyl.) w/ close to 100,000 mi. that regularly left the 2002 Santa Fe in the dust! I still love my Expo, the gas pedals responsiveness, the roominess, car like drive, a ton of standard features for the price, etc., but those are the exact reasons Im in love with my new Santa Fe LX as well. It doesnt look exactly like every other SUV out there, which seems fitting being it out classes most of them anyway (IMHO). For the look, room, ride, price & quality of even the most standard features on the LX, it cant be beat.

• 

  My Santa Fe - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By bob b - June 15 - 10:00 am

  Just got back from a 3500 mile trip with my Santa Fe and it ran flawlessly, I averaged 25-28MPG.

• 

  very happy with the santa fe - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By MillyC - June 15 - 10:00 am

  Fun to drive and very nice looking and is very good with the fuel used. Has lots of room in it.