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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  Awesome Ride - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Jason Wills - August 3 - 10:00 am

  Six speed is the way to go. Love to drive any distance. Surprisingly fast. Great handling. Awesome design.

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  Why pay more for less? - 2004 Hyundai XG350
  By troutman2000 - August 3 - 10:00 am

  Ive had my new 2004 XG350 for 1 1/2 weeks and put 1700 miles on it already. The car ride is very smooth and comfortable and the interior is very luxurious for a car at this price. There are no cheap interior plastic pieces like you will find on the Nissan Altima 3.5. Although the Nissan has more HP, the 194HP of the XG is more than enough to get up to speed on those short highway on-ramps. So far this car is a winner in my book. Ill update this review as time and the miles go by.

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  Beats the Ford Escape & Jeep Victory!! - 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Doug&Anna - August 3 - 10:00 am

  We have driven it for almost two months and love it. Its easy to get accustomed to all the switches and pedals - the seats are soft and comfortable. It has plenty of "get up and go" for all the hills, etc. we have. We would definately want the 3.0L if we wanted to tow/haul things. We drove the Ford Escape, Mazda Tribute (the same motor as the Ford Escape), Jeep Victory and other Jeeps and Saturn Vue and kept going back to the Hyundai Santa Fe! Compare apples to apples and youll come out way ahead of the others with the Santa Fe.

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  santa fe - 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Hinson - August 3 - 10:00 am

  Very smooth ride and handling great price and waranty

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  Most features for price! - 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Shawn1449 - August 3 - 10:00 am

  I just bought the 2003 Santa Fe in artic blue, it is a very nice color but hard to find, and with the features it has like leather interior, automatic climate control, and six in-dash cd changer to name a few. The Santa Fe drives like a car, drives smooth and very good going around corners. The heated front seats are nice but since I live in Florida I havent used that feature yet. It is very comfortable no matter where you sit in the car, from the driver seat to the back seat. Although the driver seat is the best seat in the car.

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  I am completely impressed! - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By TinaBean - August 3 - 10:00 am

  I looked at the Elantra because of the low price, and I actually bought one because of everything else! 1st, the car looks great, especially in sleek, shiny Black. It drives as smooth as my Cutlass did & has more room. The real clincher was the Sales Staff, they were not the "evil devils" I had anticipated meeting, they really bent over backwards to make me happy. I ended up getting a car w/more options than I anticipated, the keen Sales Manager noticed some minor paint defects on my 1st choice & gave me the only other Black one on the lot-for the same low price we had agreed on. The warranty, the service, the ride, the price - who knew Id own a Hyundai!?

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  GT is GREAT - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By fullermj - August 3 - 10:00 am

  This was my first brand new car, and I was a little apprehensive about the Hyundai. But my parents had an Elantra for a few years with no problems, and I figured I could get the most car for my $$ with the Elantra GT. I love it. The styling (it looks like a Saab 9-3), the handling, and its got a lot of room! Ive had it for almost 15k miles, no problems.

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  cant beat it - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By cc1 - August 3 - 10:00 am

  bang for the buck! other than the fact that it could use 4o more horse power the gt is impossible to beat. (most cars costing 5 grand more could also use more power) leather,all the bells @ wistles, 4 wheel discs,5 door hatch, unbeleivable warranty. im very sattisfied

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  A Real Nice Car - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By ZRM - August 3 - 9:33 am

  Traded my 06 Sonato with a V6 in on this one with the 4cyl.Had not one problem with it. The V6 has more power but the 4cyl may surprise you with the pickup it has,plus the gas mileage is a plus. Majority of my driving is freeway and I abide by the speed limits so I get better than advertised mileage.My model has everything but navigation, excellent ride, infinity sound system is excellent,large trunk,wife loves the heated seats,I enjoy the dual climate control.Car is a pleasure to drive.Compare it to other cars with the same equipment you will be saving money and have a great warranty to go along with it. Our dealership has also made ownership a pleasure.

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  One of the best new SUV - 2006 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Jose - August 3 - 1:10 am

  We have tested few SUV and this one the Santa Fe has being the best ride so far.