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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  hyundai entourage se - 2007 Hyundai Entourage
  By victor caputo - June 26 - 7:42 pm

  so far I have the entourage about seven weeks and have not had any problems with it. I have 1100 miles on it. I would like to get better gas mileage so far I have not taken it on a long trip to tell what kind of mileage I will get. Im am very pleased so far, It had a 2500 rebate on it when I purchased it, great car for the money.

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  Great Car. - 2007 Hyundai Azera
  By VA driver - June 26 - 3:40 pm

  Great car!! We have had Nissan Maximas and loved them, but the new style and price of the latest left us looking for competitors. What we found was a better car at a much better price than the Maxima or the Avalon.

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  Great Car! - 2007 Hyundai Elantra
  By David - June 26 - 2:26 pm

  My wife had a 2002 Hyundai Elantra which started falling apart. We decided instead of paying costly repairs we would buy a new one. First we looked into the Toyota Yaris and Corolla..We really didnt care for either of them. We then test drove a Nissan Sentra which seemed great but the price was a bit higher than we were wanting to pay. We decided to give Hyundai a shot again. We test drove the "new" elantra and fell in love with it. We choose the purple color but really it should be called Black Cherry. This car was for my wife and she is very happy with it! Best price and warranty out there for a small car.

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  Near perfect - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By dieselhead - June 26 - 10:00 am

  I can only find two things to gripe about with this car: rear visibility is less than stellar and the low beam/high beam switch should be a toggle style switch. Otherwise this car shines in all areas. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but this ex-European has no problem with the Euro-styling. The performance and handling seem more than adequate for a car with this much practicality. Long term reliabilty is something of an unknown and to be honest I wouldnt have bought this car without the 100k/10yr warranty. I have no regrets about buying this car. The only question is, do we need a second one?

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  Love this car, but... - 2012 Hyundai Genesis Coupe
  By genlove - June 26 - 9:46 am

  Car: 3.8 Track, Bathurst Black, 6 Auto. First of all, this is simply THE MOST beautiful car on the road! Bar none! Everywhere I drive it heads turn! Almost causes wrecks. Far and away THE MOST CAR FOR THE MONEY Ive ever owned. PERIOD! Handling: GLUE. Ride Quality: Rough, but youll come to love it. Performance: Very Good. Needs a V8 and/or better transmission programming. Build Quality: Hyundai. The NEW standard. The ONLY quibble I have with this car AT ALL, is that the Auto Trans needs to be either reprogrammed more aggressively, or such a mode needs to be added. No one I know buying this car is primarily interested in gas mileage.

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  The poor mans rich car - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By John - June 26 - 6:03 am

  This car is awesome for the price you pay its even unbelievable. I a big guy and i mean almost 300lbs and i fit like a dream and im 6 feet tall. Awesome fits like a glove thank god i didnt get the suv.

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  Sporty, yet practical. - 2014 Hyundai Elantra
  By Sydney Ealy - June 26 - 12:24 am

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  Nice Car! - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By Eric - June 25 - 9:36 am

  Great family car. I wanted something Safe reliable and cheap. With standard Electronic Stability Control, the 10 year warranty and a great price, I was hooked. Since buying the car I have found it to be very comfortable, very quiet, and it even looks pretty good. I like having the MP3 capable CD player and all the extera features. While not the nicest car on the road, it is without a doubt, the best value on the road. I highly recommend it.

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  Couldnt Be More Pleased - 2008 Hyundai Veracruz
  By billray - June 25 - 2:10 am

  Test drove Acura, Honda, Mazda and Toyota CUVs and settled on Veracruz because of overall value and build quality. Car is very quiet and an absolute joy to drive. I really like the proximity key and power liftgate. Limited, AWD, Silver with Black Interior.

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  Edmunds inconsistant editorial Elant 06 - 2006 Hyundai Elantra
  By crb - June 25 - 12:56 am

  Consumers Reports Buyers Guide Elantra 06 rates reliability very good/accidant avoid ance very good/Edmunds editorial 04//05/ rating is a 78/06 75 Elantra Sorry you are wrong Edmunds.com My Elantra averages better than 26 miles per gallon.Consumer Guide rates Honda Civic 26.1 mpg. Civic is a 10 EX Mazda 3 10/Hyundai is a solid 8 No recalls 06 Elantra/ 05/04 recalls. Edmunds gets it right 07 8.3 07 bettet car but 06/05/04 Recommended by C.R., C.G.