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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  2005 Hyundai Tucson - 2005 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Bob - January 25 - 6:26 pm

  Completely satisfied with this vehicle. Road performance - Excellent Looks - Different than the average SUV. Stands out. Mileage not as good as desired. But, everything else about this vehicle makes up for more than that. This vehicle lets me be completely in control. My first SUV was a 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe. Fell in live with this make the first day I sat behind the wheel after purchase. I would never consider another make or model.

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  So-so - 2000 Hyundai Elantra
  By Jordan - January 25 - 12:16 pm

  I bought the Elantra used, though only 1 year old several years back. I just traded it in for a Kia a few weeks ago. I was surprised to find it used a lot more gas then I expected for such a light vehicle. Overall it was reliable, it ran fine when traded in and major problems never seemed to crop up. But minor things kept breaking like power windows, dash lights shorted out, dash clock shorted out, cd player broke, and the CV joints (not covered under mfg warranty) kept going even when I was careful about my driving. The interior design was nice, everything was easy to find and use, important in an emergency or when first driving a new vehicle. Outside it looked nice for a wagon.

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  my tiburon - 2004 Hyundai Tiburon
  By hipnotictester - January 25 - 2:00 am

  i love the way this car looks. if i was single im sure it would attract some women. it handles great on curvy roads, but when thers snow on the ground it drives like a sled and feels very unsafe. snow and ice builds up very fast under the wheel wells. otherwise i love this car.

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  2004 best model yet - 2004 Hyundai XG350
  By tinydog - January 25 - 2:00 am

  Having owned a 2002 XG350L I can honestly say the 2004 is a significant improvement. The 02 had the shift quality problem but the 04 does not exhibit this. I love everything about the XG. The cosmetic upgrades are great and made an expensive looking car even better. This car should be classified in the ranks of Lexus and Infinity. Have owned 4 Hyundais since 2001 before this I only bought GM. Hyundai is now my car company, It has proven itself to me with my previous ownership experience. I am happy to report NO PROBLEMS on any of my Hyundais.

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  Great looking car - 2004 Hyundai Sonata
  By Zaid - January 25 - 2:00 am

  I am very impressed with this car. It looks good the warrenty is great and i love the smooth ride. Even when i go 80 to 85 miles per hour its still smooth. I really like this car.

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  Sorta Beware - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Kingtriton - January 25 - 2:00 am

  This vehicle is great, except that it burns oil. Hy. Corp said that it is normal to burn 1 QT / 1000 miles. Dont buy into this. It took 2 months to finally get the Corporation to fix it. Now the dealership is tearing down the engine to find out the problem. Other than the burning of oil, I have enjoyed this vehicle, especially in the snow, where it plowed through 1 1/2 of snow.

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  First Foreign Car - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Hannah - January 25 - 2:00 am

  I love the Santa Fe. It is very roomy in the back seat

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  The Best SUV EVER! - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By MissGimpie - January 25 - 2:00 am

  I love my Santa Fe! My parents have one, and when I was looking for a new car, I thought nothing else besides buying my very own one. GO BUY ONE!

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  an unexpected surprise - 2005 Hyundai Elantra
  By nogo - January 24 - 5:13 pm

  I have owned my car for a mouth and I can say that it is very easy to drive. It doesnt matter if its snow, ice, rain covered roads - this thing can do it. I really looked this car over and was surprised by how much is done to it. I could not find any flaws in the paint or any rust on the suspension or exhaust. I live on a 5 lane highway with a 55mph limit This car can get me up to speed right out of my driveway pretty good. Im happy it has an independant rear suspension (Honda didnt). The seats leave a little to be desired but If they were too comfortable youd fall asleep at the wheel. Excellent buy!

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  best car i have ever had - 2001 Hyundai XG300
  By laputa - January 24 - 10:00 am

  excellent, superb, super value...i have owned numerious brand...but nothing compares to the value & luxury ive gotten with this car. so far ive had no problems aside from tire balance defect which made the hanle shake at high speeds.it has just about all the features u can dream of for a price of a base camery v6. materials & workmanship is on par with lexus & even better than infinity. quiet, rattle free & solid feel. once u test drive one u will fall in love. i plan to keep the car for the entire 10 yr period. its a head turner & im loving it more & more as the days go by. so far i have influenced 3 other ppl to buy the xg350.