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:

• 

  Eve - 2002 Hyundai Sonata
  By Christmas Eve - December 20 - 2:00 am

  Experience has been great. I drive approximately 40 miles a day, and so the new car has made my commute much more bearable.

• 

  Ggggrrreeeeaaaattt - 2004 Hyundai Tiburon
  By leland - December 19 - 10:00 am

  I am 63" and have no problem with headroom or entering and exiting the car. I compared it to the RSX type-S and SRT-4, but i got more for my dollar with the tiburon, at the base price of the other models! This is an awesome car!

• 

  WOW, WHAT A GREAT VEHICLE! - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By BILLY JONES - December 19 - 2:00 am

  IVE ONLY HAD THE VEHICLE FOR TWO MONTHS BUT SO FAR IM VERY PLEASED WITH MY SANTAFE

• 

  A#1 FAUX EURO-CRUISER - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By bucksLXURIATE - December 18 - 7:13 pm

  Not a 6i in corners but solid.Quiet,refined,stately Buick-like ride and build quality.Astonishingly competent,loud tunes in base pkg.-if you can lose the roof check out the sound system and save the 1.4 grand.Two quotes for 799.00 to bump up to a 10 year wrap on the B2B warranty- 12k mi. or 1 year to do it.Huge upgrade over the previous generation in the engine/looks dept.-this car is especially handsome in Ebony or Deepwater blue,Cinnamon too.Trans does very well and is smooth,mud guards easy install,oil filter on TOP of the new,powerful 3.3 plant.If had black leather I would be in heaven rather than on cloud9.At 21,495 after 2k in rebates coupled with base warr.equals no-brainer/win-win.

• 

  not bad for the buck - 2000 Hyundai Elantra
  By al b. - December 17 - 2:00 am

  I purchased my car in 1999 and have 76000 miles on it at the current time. The main reason why I purchased the elantra was because of the warranty. this car has plenty of pep and the handling is awesome. The only problem I had with this car was the radiator upper hose was leaking, the dealer replaced the upper and lower hose at no cost.

• 

  Just love it! - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Love my Santa Fe - December 16 - 10:00 am

  Rides like a car. Hugs the curves with no sliding. Good stereo system. Air conditoner is keeping up with the 95+ temps this summer. Sails along on the highway. Lots of cargo room-we moved a full size refrigerator with the back seats down.

• 

  Best Buy - 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Erin - December 15 - 7:10 am

  I reciently baught a Santa Fe and I love it. The dealership that I purchased it at made the whole stressful proceedure very easy and fun. I looked at a lot of different SUVs, with all the features, and for the price, i think this is the best mid- size on the market.

• 

  love my xg 350L - 2004 Hyundai XG350
  By al greiten - December 14 - 8:43 am

  it is simply the best car we have ever owned I have been driving since 1958!! no american car comes close to the fun of driving the XG.

• 

  I love this car!!! - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By RickBell - December 14 - 5:50 am

  I cant explain it but I love this car. My friends were skeptical and kept saying, "A Hyundai?". But yes, this car kicks major butt in performance and styling when compared to the Accord and Camry. I look forward to driving this car. I am changing jobs and will be driving 62 miles round trip per day and I am excited! My LX is bright silver with leather, tinted windows, sunroof with wind guard, spoiler, and sporty 17" low profile tires with 5 spoke alloys. This car turns heads, and for as long as it performs as it has through the first 4200 miles, I will be the best salesman Hyundai could ask for. I urge anyone looking to get a quality mid sized sedan to seriously look at the 2006 Sonata.

• 

  Peoples Choice - WOW! - 2009 Hyundai Genesis
  By HyundaiOwner - December 14 - 4:30 am

  This is an amazing car. The leather wrapped dash, AC seats, sound system, adjusting headlights, I could go on and on. I personally have never owned a luxury car but most of my friends do, and they cannot believe the features this car offers for under 40K. It is unbelievable how many Lexus, BMW and MB driver approach us, telling us how beautiful the car is and cannot believe it is a Hyundai. I would recommend this car to anyone, and do. I am looking forward to what comes next with Hyundai.