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:

• 

  Nice family sedan with safety - 2002 Hyundai Sonata
  By Joohy - August 14 - 10:00 am

  Its stylish and roomy. Also it has lots of safety features. Im just satisfied with these. No more espectation on this car.

• 

  I love my car - 2004 Hyundai Tiburon
  By bakblondie - August 14 - 6:54 am

  I bought my car in 2004 new and got many compliments on it...it is currently 8 years old, only has 49,000 miles and still drives and looks like new. Only problem I have had is buying a new battery and changing out the front tires. I would buy this car again, except my next car is going to be a luxury car instead of a sports car.

• 

  A surprise - 2007 Hyundai TUCSON
  By fathoms - August 13 - 11:56 pm

  With 25K miles and perfect reliability This vehicle runs just as smooth and quiet as when it was new. It was purchase as a local drive around vehicle but we were surprise at its manners on the highway. Quiet smooth comfortable ride and averages on trips about 25.5 MPG. We opt to use it for long trips.

• 

  High value car - 2017 Hyundai Elantra
  By Bin - August 13 - 2:05 pm

• 

  Poor design - 2015 Hyundai Sonata
  By Masoud Mousavi - August 13 - 9:49 am

  You have to remove 14 bolts to remove the splash guard under the car to change the oil. It took me 1-1/2 hour to change the oil that would normally takes 20 minutes. Hyundai did not give me a satisfactory answer when I suggested to add a trap door under drain plug and filter for easy access. I would have purchased a Camry for the same amount had I known this.

• 

  First Hyundai - 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By W9Lover - August 13 - 8:26 am

  Sold my beloved 94 MB and bought the Santa Fe Limited. Took very little time to get over the name issue. I purchased based on research and friends with personal experience owning various models of Hyundai. Lots of bang for the buck and the XM radio with multi-CD/MP3 is wonderful. Mileage is as advertised - we all wish for more. As of now - absolutely no complaints.

• 

  Great little car - 2007 Hyundai Accent
  By jerryq - August 11 - 6:17 pm

  For what is basically a "throw away car" this is a tremendous vehicle. Solid as any of the Hondas I have owned (5). Hard to beat for the money and warrantee. I get 34 mpg in combined driving and 31 in hard, city driving. Plenty of room for two plus a bike in the boot. Gotta love it.

• 

  2008 Hyundai Santa Fe GLS 2.7L 4A - 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By PJ - August 10 - 4:50 pm

  All in all a nice vehicle. The GLS is a smooth ride, and offers a fair amount of luxury at a competitive price. Its spacious cabin provides plenty of room and added compartments for the person looking for the mid-size utility vehicle. Add to that, an assortment of models and options available for those looking to customize their vehicle. Its a bit slow and sluggish on acceleration and could definitely stand to gain more horsepower. However, once up to speed it performs just fine. Id rate the car an 8 out of 10.

• 

  What a fun car to drive - 2004 Hyundai Elantra
  By Jong - August 10 - 10:00 am

  This is such a well-built car, very fun to drive and cost much less than its competitors such as Civic and Corolla. If anyone is shopping around for a small sedan this is the choice that one should not miss.

• 

  The best in its class...no doubt! - 2004 Hyundai Sonata
  By Jong - August 10 - 10:00 am

  Very comfortable, quiet, smooth ride and lots of features period. Why would anyone wants to buy something else for more money. This is a very well-built and designed car. Camry and Accord? Oh! Please.....Hyundai on the rise. Watch out!