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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  future owner - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By futureowner - January 29 - 10:00 am

  I took the test drive last week I fell in love with the car. I went for a short drive and it was funny to see so many heads turn as I passed by or at the traffic light. The sound system is awsome, but I thought that the shift stick was too big. Anyhow, Im buying this car by the end of the week......I cant wait to have it.

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  Need a new car buy a Tucson - 2007 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Roy Hancock - January 29 - 12:20 am

  From day one this has been a great SUV fun to drive on and off road (more fun off road). Controls all have great locations, but AC light ( dont know if it is on or off during the day with that little green light.) I have always had V8s so this was my first 4 cyc. At first it seemed a little slow to start, but what I soon came to realize is that I almost always had a jack rabbit starts with the V8s. Now I feel real comfortable with the 4 cyc, but what is the best is that I get 25 miles per gal arround town. This is much better than Hyundias claim of 23 MPG. If your looking for a new car or SUV test drive a Tucson, you will not regret it.

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  terrific - 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By happycustomer - January 28 - 9:20 am

  I only purchased my Santa Fe 2 weeks ago but so far i love it. It is very comfortable. I cant wait to take it on a trip. It is very stylish and all my neighbors are complimenting me. I will write again after I have the car longer. I did a lot of research before I purchased and found that it was the most car for the money in its class. I dont understand why all the manufacturers are selling cars with roof racks but no cross rails.

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  Veracruz - 2009 Hyundai Veracruz
  By Danny - January 27 - 2:26 am

  This is a crossover with the ride of a cruse ship. The car has so many bells and whistles. Have it one week and already over 1100 miles. Finding wonderful things about it every day. Could be the best car ever.

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  Bought it yesterday! - 2008 Hyundai Sonata
  By ler0n - January 25 - 11:10 am

  As I pulled the car out for the test drive, I told the dealer that if I hear loud wind noises, we can forget about Hyundai altogether. I drove about 8 miles in city and 8 miles on freeway, where I briefly reached 80 mph effortlessly. The handling was responsive, the ride very smooth and quiet (later, I found out that Hyundai engineers redesigned the door hinges and side mirrors to reduce wind noise). The average mileage for my test drive was 26mpg. I really would love it to be close to 29-30 mpg, but I can live with it since I drive only 20 miles to and from work each day and once month a trip of about 220 miles. The 17.7 gallon fuel tank should get me a long way. Love everything!

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  Limosine Looks and Quality - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By Oldcarguy - January 25 - 8:46 am

  Bought a black/black Limited V-6 in February. Compared the Accord, Camry, Malibu, Sebring, G6, etc., and the Sonata beat all of them in price and fuel mileage. Have just over 3000 miles on it and we get about 25 mpg in local (suburban) driving and between 33 and 35 on the Interstates. Highly recommend the wheel flaps and trunk liner to keep the outside and inside clean. Im 63" and my wife is short and both of us have no problem getting comfortable driving positions. Very smooth and comfortable, easy to maneuver and park, have gotten many compliments on the looks ("looks like a Lexus"), probably on the color. Great warranty!!!

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  Great car and great value. Just a few bugs - 2016 Hyundai TUCSON
  By michael melgar - January 24 - 1:31 pm

  We already have a 2011 sonata and liked it so when we needed an SUV the Tucson seemed like a logical option. Weve had the car for a month and its been great except for a couple of items The car sometimes hesitates from a dead stop but not anything terrible. The GPS system is balky but I only have it because you need to order the ultimate package to get the front end collision avoidance system and the GPS comes with it. Why anyone would use this instead of Google maps is a mystery to me. The Bluetooth iPhone link is also balky. It was much better on the Sonata. Hands free dialing finds contacts too slowly and requires too many steps. Much easier to just use Siri. The 2011 Sonata without navigation had a better faster interface than my 2016 Tucson with Ultimate package. The seats are also a little firm but i knew that from the Sonata and decided to live with it since the rest of the car met my needs at a better price than the competition

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  Fantastic vehicle - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By charlest - January 24 - 10:00 am

  First care weve owned that we didnt have to have at the dealership for warranty work. In fact, its nearly 2 years old and still no warranty work. Love the car.

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  The best car ever built! - 2004 Hyundai Tiburon
  By martinolsen - January 24 - 10:00 am

  Overall the Tib has satisfied me more than any other car that I have owned. Its Fast, Powerfull,The braking ability, Sleek design, and its reliability. When I wake up in the morning the first thing I think about is I wonder where I can take the Tib to rally some corners! When hyundai does its next design change I can tell you this, Ill be the first person in line to buy it.

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  elantra - 2004 Hyundai Elantra
  By carperson888 - January 24 - 10:00 am

  This little car very capable car. Hyundai sure have come a long way in both designing and fine turning this vehicle. Several years ago I would not even considered a Korean car. Now I am a proud owner of a Hyundai.