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:

• 

  mpg - 2005 Hyundai XG350
  By enton - March 19 - 12:26 am

  terrible mpg. mine does 10 mpg city. trying to sell as soon as posible

• 

  Bang for my buck - 2006 Hyundai Accent
  By Tony - March 18 - 5:00 pm

  I just wanna say that I love my 2006 Accent it has a ton of stuff that most economy cars dont have like 4 wheel ABS ,front and side air bags , several cup holders , armrest in the front pass side and rear seat. 4 wheel disk breaks, CD player with 6 speaker system , and a Tachometer with rebate I paid 12,500 with the manual Trans. I think this is the best Deal on the market and the new design for 06 is sweet mine is wine red and it gets 35 mpg so far.

• 

  A fun cheap little car - 2005 Hyundai Accent
  By Nathan - March 18 - 2:33 pm

  I bought my 2005 Accent as a new left over in 06. I bought it a month after I bought an 06 Tiburon as a second car. This has been the best second car you could ask for. Its cheap, reliable, great on gas, has plenty of room for a little hatchback, and is fun to drive with the 5 speed manual. Its a very plain car with no CD player, and no air conditioning which is okay for what I use it for. Most people would probably get a little higher version with these features. It is built very well, and rides smoothly for its low price of $11,000. And of course, it has Hyundais wonderful 10 year 100,000 mile warranty on the engine and transmission

• 

  Almost Perfect - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By Spidy - March 17 - 11:55 pm

  I have mostly good things to say about this vehical Very reliable,Well equiped a bargin for the price!!

• 

  owner - 2007 Hyundai Elantra
  By carl - March 17 - 1:26 pm

  it a fun car to drive , handles well on the highway and acclerates well

• 

  Safe for the kids! - 2007 Hyundai Entourage
  By Erroll - March 17 - 6:10 am

  Very comfortable and safe for the kids! Spacious. Quiet ride. Best warranty. Nice selection of colors. Excellent handling in wet conditions. Great visibility. Best feature...side windows go up and down providing greater airflow and comfort for all passengers.

• 

  user review - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By Sol - March 16 - 5:13 pm

  It feels like a premium car on the inside and the drive is pretty smooth.

• 

  Amazing refinement in a $20 k car - 2012 Hyundai Sonata
  By cb1955 - March 16 - 10:39 am

  We just traded in my wifes 2008 Elantra for the 2012 Sonata. We got the base GLS. The inclusion of Hyundais Bluelink system (Hyundais version of On-Star) was an added bonus, along with the Bluetooth, Sirius XM, etc. Added to this, is Hyundais legendary 5/60 and 10/100 warranty, which are the best in the business. This car has it all, with a smooth ride, decent acceleration for a 4 cyl engine, and great gas mileage. I have no doubt that it will attain a 35 mpg rating when we take in on an extended trip. The cloth seats are much nicer than the previous cloth seats in other Sonatas Ive driven in the past. Its no wonder that Hyundai sales are up over 16% from 2010!

• 

  Leased for two days, couldnt find a single fault. - 2016 Hyundai Sonata
  By Carol P - March 16 - 6:17 am

  Ive been renting cars for a while now and often find myself creating mental lists of the things that annoy me about various vehicles, normally four or five things that would make me not want to own it. I was pleasantly surprised when the Sonata didnt have any. Okay, maybe it had too many features, but that isnt a problem so much as something I just dont need. It was great for a Christmas holiday where the huge trunk was filled with packages. But the drive was pretty amazing. The car likes to go, and it glides at any speed taking turns with ease. The transmission is smooth, the breaks are there when you want and need them. And you have more than enough power without using too much gasoline. And it hugs the road extremely well making highway driving a dream. I was curious to see how much you would have to spend for a vehicle that feels as if youre driving a luxury model and was shocked at how inexpensive it is. Though Im not familiar with its safety ratings or repair costs, if you are looking for a mid-size vehicle, I would check the Sonata out. The only downside may be that you may end up with lots of speeding tickets because this car is extremely easy to accidentally take up to 90-100 mph without even realizing it.

• 

  My 2011 Hyundai Sonota GLS - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By bud64k - March 16 - 4:53 am

  Ok this is my first new car, Im a 47 year old driver, and I consider myself a prudent consumer. I did alot of research. My issues with the car that made me write this review. The XM satellite. NO SiGNAL, called xm several times, still no signal. I dont want too blame the customer care but obviously they are not technicians. It made me thinking of the other problems I have with my car. Riding over potholes, not a very smooth ride, Not smooth at all, The other issue, the swaying too the left, ooo I cant stand it. I really dislike it at this moment. I wish I had more patience but i dont Im tired of dealing with shady Car people and customer service people who arent trained, Im PSSST