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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  NOT FOR SNOW! - 2009 Hyundai Genesis
  By tomfromnewyork - January 1 - 4:20 pm

  It has been more years than I can remember-since I drove a non-front-wheel (or all wheel drive)car in snow! I absolutely LOVE my Genesis!!! But when it snows - I will keep it in the garage and use my wifes Honda civic!

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  My First NEW Car - 2005 Hyundai XG350
  By Rocko - December 31 - 7:53 pm

  I waited 43 years to buy a brand new car and the XG350L won me over with all of its features. The car was more than reasonably priced for the product I got. The car handle very well. Me and my boys are all bigger than 62" and find the car to be very roomy.

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  Hyundai Genesis 4.6 4dr Sedan (4.6L8cyl) - 2010 Hyundai Genesis
  By msork - December 31 - 1:32 pm

  Absolutely love the car! Excellent fit and finish, fun to drive, lots of power. Averaging about 21 mpg. Friends owning BMWs and Mercedes are duly impressed and even more so when the purchase price is taken into consideration.

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  Very surprised - 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe
  By barrym - December 31 - 8:10 am

  My lease on a Infiniti G35 sport was about over, and I was looking at a camaro SS, and decided to give the Genesis Coupe a look. Track model, Manual, dark Grey. I was very surprised, it looked hot, sounded great and was fun to drive. I had a BMW M3 before the recession, and although the cars are not the same, this is almost as much fun to drive. Out the door at 29K. Cant beat that. Best deal on the market today.

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  Hyundai - Keep Doing the Good Job - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By sam - December 30 - 10:30 pm

  Put 800 miles in two weeks. Very quiet, smooth ride; Handling well; Luxury feel (LX model) with Sunroof and Sound systeim upgrade (Package 3). Very roomy; Lot of cargo space. Mixed city and highway driving between 20.5 to 22 mpg (non-agressive driving behavior); Great workmenship both interior and exterior. The Reliability index is just what Ive predicted. The actual could varies.

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  Best buy on four wheels - 2009 Hyundai Genesis
  By thedean - December 30 - 10:33 am

  Yes its a Hyundai! I must repeat that phrase at least once every day. No one can believe that this is a Hyundai. Even the guys at Big-O tire asked if they could take pictures. The same happened when I had the windows tinted. In short, I have purchased 1-2 new cars a year since 1990- all brands and makes from Corvettes to camrys. With 5 cars in the garage we have a choice, and without fault the car that is out of the garage first is the Genesis. Personally, I like the gas mileage of the v6. hwy 28 mpg and 23-24 mixed driving. Very impressive for a full size family sedan. (and no- I dont work for Hyundai or any car biz.. I always wonder about other people that write these things :)

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  I feel like I stole it! - 2013 Hyundai Genesis
  By AJ - December 30 - 12:15 am

  I love my car and it has everything that I want in a daily driver. There is more than enough power but the Rspec 5.0 is tuned for efficiency so street racers will be dissapointed. Turn the ESC off for some mild hooliganism but you will still suffer from lack of agility problems and slow shifting. I get 23 mpg on a good day but no less than 20mpg if I put my foot in it regularly. There are no sport modes and so far no aftermarket ecu tuning available so you get what you get. If you like to upgrade your car then look elsewhere. I had the same MY v6 and its an even better bargain since both v6 and v8 have more power than the electronics will ever let you use but the v6 gave me 24-28mpg regularly. The v8 is a bit smoother though. The used prices on the Gen 1s are extraordinary for what you get. Minor nit picks are: The Navigation is already out dated and it cost too much for current maps. It cant find half the Points of Interests that try to find. Voice search is almost useless. The sound system is great but has only basic equalizer setting (bass, mid, treble). Since I like heart thumping bass I added sub woofer but the car is so well insulated I cant hear it well enough in the cabin. The trunk is huge but the rear seats dont fold down. The ride is plush but gets jarring on certain surfaces. Acceleration from a roll is slow for the 430 HP that this car has. Blue link is expensive and worthless I only wanted it for remote start but since it is through your smart phones internet its not worth it. Lastly, I worry about the electronics being hackable.

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  Fun first coupe owned - 2008 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Bokyung - December 29 - 6:46 pm

  At first, I was attracted to the more powerful Civic Si, Scion tC, and the GTi from VW. The GTi and Si not being in my price range, I had to choose between the tC or Tiburon, which was very easy. The Tiburon GS is a great little coupe that looks a LOT better then most coupes in its price range. The Tiburon has a decent acceleration, and decent high-speed max. Handling is very good, and this car is also a good platform for the modding enthusiasts. The car is small, so its easy to maintain the exterior and interior.

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  I luv my Elantra! - 2006 Hyundai Elantra
  By Bruce - December 29 - 1:24 pm

  Great car - cheap as hell to buy, own, and operate. We have 20K miles on in now - and we may not need to buy another car for a decade.

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  Best Keep Secert - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Timberwolf - December 29 - 2:00 am

  Best SUV you can get for the money. Im an ex Honda owner and believe me, the Koreans have caught the Japanese.