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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  THE BEST CAR TO CHOOSE!!!!!! - 2003 Hyundai XG350
  By Mariah - December 14 - 10:00 am

  The car is so awsome!!!It runs so smooth and i enjoy it so much. My last car was an oldsmoble, so having this $50,000 for 25,000 was such a great deal!!! i would totally reccomed a XG350 to anybody who wants an expensive car for a cheap price.

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  HYUNDAI SANTA FE-GLS 2.7 AWD - 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Lindar - December 14 - 10:00 am

  Really like the comfort, price and standard features. Drove both the 2.7 & 3.5 models at the dealer, found out that the 2.7 is just a TAD slower on pickup than the 3.5..the 3.5 would have cost me more, so I bought the 2.7. Am satisfied with the SUV on the whole.

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  Wise Choice - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By monkey - December 13 - 5:23 pm

  Satisfying vehicle. Excellent value. Good power. Great features.

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  I HATE this car - 2004 Hyundai Accent
  By Jon - December 13 - 4:07 pm

  My car only has 20000 miles on it and it has spent more than 3 months in the shop in 2 years. I have had to pretty much replace every origional part. I strogly advise not to buy this car. My family owns 3 and every one of them has had major problems from replacing the transmission to the entire break system. I even had to replace a bad battery. These cars truly are junk!

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  great car - 2016 Hyundai TUCSON
  By jacques meloche - December 13 - 12:50 am

  the 4 cylinder is very impressive

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  Great drive for its money - 2006 Hyundai Accent
  By Henry David - December 12 - 3:15 pm

  I´ve had the car for five months and the pro´s are: great soft and smooth ride for a car its class, soft and no outside noise,good noise insulation and good stereo for the price, and lots of amenities. Great room for its size, good trunk space, and great handling in curves. The cons: not great gas mileage 21 to 23 miles per gallon on the city, if you don´t drive fast but if you are those of whom, like driving fast it will give you less than 20 miles per galon, but the car will respond fast enough for city needs, and its fun! On mountain roads you have to push the acelerator, but the ride is stable on fast curves,I personaly use the 2nd gear, and turn off the overdrive and it responds nice!

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  Awesome ride - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By Ju Kim - December 12 - 3:03 am

  When I went car shopping, I test drove bunch of 4 door sedans like maxima, camry, accord, and TL. All of the V6 models. Non of those cars were as quiet as Hyundai Sonata was. some of those V6 models had little bit more horsepower, but Sonata is a pretty light car and the V6 model has more than enough power to handle its business.

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  Azera the BEST - 2006 Hyundai Azera
  By Al Greiten - December 12 - 1:57 am

  I drive 150 miles a day in my Azera, it is the most fun car to own - drive, I would be lost in any other brand drove olds and domestic large cars all my life however If all stayes the same with Hyundai it will be the only brand I will ever own I am 64 yrs old and love to drive been doing it since the age of 16, keep up the good work Hyundai!!!!! Al Las Vegas Nevada.

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  07 Azera - Movin on up - 2007 Hyundai Azera
  By jtnaustin - December 11 - 1:33 pm

  This is by far the best car I have ever purchased new. It reminds me of when Ford said "Quality is Job One" but lost it. Well the quality moved to Hyundai and lives in the Azera.

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  Loving my Santa Fe - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By k79mill - December 11 - 9:33 am

  I love my new Santa Fe. I have had it 5 months & I still enjoy driving it. It drives fantastic both in town & on the highway. Has plenty of power for passing. Before buying my Santa Fe I was considering a Honda Pilot. I test drove the base model Pilot and decided on the Santa Fe. For the money the Santa Fe won hands down & the drivers seat was alot more comfortable too. The Santa Fe has a lot more features for the money.