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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  Best Value !!!! - 2002 Hyundai XG350
  By danzon - January 12 - 2:00 am

  We were looking at a Sonata or a Santa Fe and ended up with the XG350L instead. Greatest attraction was the shape and the color (white pearl) of the car. After test driving the car, we definitely were sold on it, specially when the Hyundai dealership (Hatfield) gave us a deal we cant refuse. With all the safety (abs, traction control, front and side airbags) included as standard on this vehicle, couple with the high torque V6 engine, plus the sunroof, power seats with memory, am/fm stereo cassette with CD, leather w/heated seats and side mirrors, this car would be thousands more compared to other mid-size vehicle. We feel that the car was the best car for value !!!

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  Love our Tibby!!! - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Magpie - January 12 - 2:00 am

  We saw the new Tiburon and just fell in love. It handles great. I love the interior, the dials, knobs, etc.. Its very peppy and just feels solid. Im really impressed by how far Hyundais come. The sound system is phenomenal for coming standard. There are so many standard features, its a great deal!

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  Great car - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By sungjae - January 12 - 2:00 am

  its my first car i dont know about other cars but i love it~!! so far great~

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  Great entry level car. - 2002 Hyundai Accent
  By Jason McGovern - January 12 - 2:00 am

  If you talk the dealer down, you can buy a new one of these for around 11,500 with Auto Trans. WIth being a little car, this thing can get moving when it needs to. The interior is fairly basic, and compact. I am 61" and it was ok sizewise. All Hyundais come with a 5 year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty. If something goes wrong, you take it in. But car reliability also depends on the driver. This is no sports car, so dont drive it like one and it will last.

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  Best car Ive ever owned - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By Chuck B. - January 12 - 2:00 am

  I am totally amazed by this car. It comes standard with pretty much everthing. Its fast, handles great with the standard Michelins, rides good, is quiet at highway speeds and I always get 30+ mpg. Im at 14,000 and the car has been flawless so far. Not so much as a squeak. The dealer and Hyundai have been great. I looked at Civics, Toyotas, the laughable Focus and many others and the Elantra is the deal of the decade. More room, more power, more features and I got it for under $12,000. I drove Saabs for years but got tired of all the expensive repair bills. The Hyundai costs less than half as much and doesnt drive that much different.

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  07 Entourage - 2007 Hyundai Entourage
  By GWinVan - January 12 - 12:52 am

  Had the Entourage for 5 months now and am pretty happy with it. The bad is definitely gas mileage - absolutely horrendous (not even close to my V6 Tacoma). I have had minor problems with the TPMS (misread in cold temp), and a sliding door that doesnt close about 5% of the time without retrying. Otherwise, the van has been great. I find the quality above average, the engine sure has some pep and the exterior styling is decent (similar to Odyssey). I would recommend this car to someone who is planning on driving the car for years as no doubt its resale value will not be that of Honda, Toyota, Nissan etc.

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  One of the best for the money - 2008 Hyundai Veracruz
  By steve - January 12 - 12:50 am

  Had the vehicle for a year and half. The ride is quite and smooth even at 80 MPH. We have had one small problem,the rear door seals needed to be replaced due to shrinkage. No MP3 or Ipod adapter. We would buy another Hyundai in the future.

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  Best car ever - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Degerdi - January 11 - 9:43 pm

  Ive had my car for a few weeks now so dont take my word for reliability but this car is amazing

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  Best Kept Secret - 2009 Hyundai Genesis
  By Best Kept Secret - January 11 - 1:20 pm

  The Genesis 3.8 V6 is the Best Kept Secret in the luxury car lane ... but undoubtedly not for long! Leased my new black, premium-plus pkg Genesis about 3 weeks ago after my usual exhaustive, but comprehensive research. Every aspect of the cars looks and performance has met or exceeded my expectations; in short, this is honestly not another car on the road I would covet over my Genesis! The power train is silky smooth, tons of acceleration power on demand, smooth transmission with super-powerful, turbo- level boost in manual shift mode when entering onto highway ramp or pulling out into fast oncoming traffic. Lines of the car are the envy of every co-worker and valet whos seen it

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  So far, so good...great vehicle - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By D B F - January 11 - 2:00 am

  Have had car for 6 months, driven 17 k so far. I purchased the Limited model in Navy Blue with Tan Leather. I am routinely asked what kind of car is it and told it looks like a Mercedes. For what you get on this car, with leather, Navigation, the Infiniti stereo and the fuel efficiency..there is NOTHING close on the market. I was driving an Acura TSX before, a much smaller car that I paid more for, and was having to put 93 Octane in. This car blows away the Acura, and has SO much more for 15 k less. I am routinely getting 35 mpg on the Highway on 87 octane.