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:

• 

  Watch out for some things you may miss - 2006 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Heath - September 10 - 2:03 pm

  We traded in our 4 year old Jeep Liberty Sport for this Hyundai Tucson to save on gas and get into a newer vehicle. Hyundai makes great, sporty cars and SUVs. If we have one complaint, it would be that they use TAPE, yes thats right, TAPE on their window trims. So, dont park near anyone or a simple scuff from the door of another vehicle can start the tape coming off and leave a very unsightly window trim for you to have to fix (since they dont cover it under warrantee. The good news is that it will only cost you $100 each time you need to get the TAPE fixed because they need to redo the entire tape around the window trim each time!

• 

  Love IT! - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By New2Diesel - September 10 - 1:30 pm

  Great vehicle! Sexy Look! Great value. Better than EPA gas mileage already (1200 miles). This is a very nice vehicle for the money. You wont be sorry with this one I dont think.

• 

  Sweet ride - 2007 Hyundai Accent
  By erikgsi - September 10 - 12:33 am

  This car blows my mind for the money. Handles outstanding even in gs trim. Looks beautiful. quick too.

• 

  Great Value - 2016 Hyundai Genesis
  By Koop - September 9 - 8:20 pm

  Just moved to a Genesis after owning Infiniti. I think the Genesis is a better car than the Infiniti in just about every way, including the dealership experience, all at thousands of dollars less in cost. I managed to get my Signature edition for the price of a base model. Great ride, smooth transmission, plenty of power in the v6, very quiet, lots of headroom and legroom. The only nits I can pick are that the brakes are rather soft and need to be applied earlier, and the automatic windshield wiper goes way too fast for the amount of rain. Other than that I am simply loving this car. Get lots of looks and questions about what it is, especially since I changed out the Hyundai flying H badge on the trunk for a KDM Genesis wings logo in back.

• 

  Tucson is a great value - 2005 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Jim in Chicago - September 9 - 3:20 pm

  This is the third SUV Ive owned after a Ford Explorer and a Nissan Pathfinder. I am extremely pleased with the Tucson. The build quality, fit and finish, and overall quality is the best of all of them. No problems in my first month/1,500 miles with no squeaks, rattles or anything else to have the dealer fix. The safety features are great to have and standard too. An incredible value.

• 

  Hyundai doing better than LEXUS - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By Maximus - September 9 - 6:10 am

  I never expected excellent quality from Hyundai until today. Well this one runs like a Lexus ES330. Well actually better than the Lexus. The top two Japanese brands - Honda and Toyota won their high reputation over the past couple decades. I think Hyundai will achieve the same high reputation within the next two years. This 06 Sonata OUTPERFORMS Toyota Camry and Honda Accord not only by the price advantage but also by its built quality and superior performance! Also check out the new AZERA (Premium package including 2 memory seats and a navigation). This model will be built to compete over the Lexus ES330, Acura TL, BMW 3 series and Infinity M35 etc.

• 

  Overall Dependable Car - 1999 Hyundai Elantra
  By Karen - September 8 - 11:14 pm

  This has been a dependable car. I bought this car at the 30,000 mile range. Its no good for comfort on long road trips. Seats are uncomfortable if sitting in for more than a 1/2 hour or so. Overall for the price you cant beat it. It has over 80,000 on it now and not ready for brakes yet. Just normal oil and maintenance keeps you running in one of these Elantras.

• 

  wont buy another hyundia - 2001 Hyundai Tiburon
  By tibappointed - September 8 - 10:00 am

  trading my sunfire was my first mistake. paying retail was my second. the car caught my eye and had to have it but was i wrong. tires only get 20,000 miles driven politely. and are ridicously expensive. You can only put V rated tires on this car and there is no need for them. resale value is a joke after owning the car for 9 months lost $7,000 value. luckily it has the great warrantee because it needs it

• 

  IVE HAD LUXURY SPORTS CARS IN PAST. I F - 2004 Hyundai Tiburon
  By RICHARD G. FLATLEY - September 8 - 10:00 am

  AFTER DRIVING THIS CAR FOR 10 MONTHS I FIND THE CAR AN EXCEPTIONAL VALUE FOR THE MONEY. I LIKE THE 6 SPEED TRANSMISSION. FIRST GEAR COULD BE A LITTLE MORE PEPPY. IVE HAD THE CAR SPEED OVER 160. ITS REALLY A KICK. IM IMPRESSED WITH THE NEW DESIGN. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

• 

  2004 GT hatchback - 2004 Hyundai Elantra
  By itazura - September 8 - 10:00 am

  Only have a few hundred miles on the car, but the driving experience so far has been very positive. We bought the GT hatchback, and the stiffer suspension does introduce road vibration -- but the precise control through turns and on windy roads is great. The automatic transmission has a lot of zip in first and the lower range of second, but bogs down a bit under acceleration at 40mph+. Rear seats are tight in terms of leg room unless the folks up front scoot forward. One nice improvement over the 2003 is that the childseat tether anchors are no longer back at the back of the hatch area...they are directly below the rear seat backs.