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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  Great so far-SE Value Edition 2017 - 2017 Hyundai Elantra
  By David Nasr - December 14 - 4:00 am

  Ultimate test: Round trip from Tulsa to Las Vegas.. Dove it a total of 2500 miles, flawless, no issues. Comfortable, and did close to 45 MPG average. Drove though a winter storm in the mountains of New Mexico and although it was scary as hell at night, the little beast performed very well. I love all the features included in the Value edition and the MPG. Very easy to drive in town through stop and go traffic, especially through the Tulsa streets which are full of potholes. The looks are growing on me, in the beginning I thought it was kind of bland, but it really is a nice looking car, it is classy looking and doesnt look (to me) like an economy car, but more like an upscale-sporty sedan. The design is similar to the Sonatas and it has reminiscence to Audis due to both sharing the same designer. Overall this car is a great value, its safe, reliable, well built and economical.

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  good deal - 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By kevin nell - December 13 - 4:16 pm

  I paid $5000 less then the closest Japanese suv. It comes with better warrant program and re-sale price is getting better...

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  Awsome - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By mmmm124568 - December 13 - 10:00 am

  My Hubby got me a Santa Fe as a surprise for my 30th b-day, and what a surprise it was, Ive never had so much fun driving a car, and this is the first SUV I have ever had. WOWzers, getting our 5 year old son in and out is a breeze and with tons of room in the back for groceries makes shoppin easier too.

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  Great Car!!! - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By CAjessy - December 13 - 10:00 am

  Ive had my Santa Fe for about a year now and Ive never been happier! I do a lot of traveling for my job and needed a reliable car that would withstand the 162 RT drive I do on a regular basis. Gas mileage is excellent for an SUV and so far I have not had any problems except for the cd changer.

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  Pleased with this vehicle - 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By postoak - December 12 - 9:33 am

  First, mileage. I get about 24 on my daily commute, 16 strictly city, on cruise-control: 25.5 at 75mph, and 33 (!) at 60mph. Acceleration is more than adequate. If you really punch it you get torque- steer, but it isnt necessary to punch it. Its been trouble-free the first year/21,000 miles. The automatic climate system is MUCH better than the one in my Mercedes and the temperature readout much more accurate than my Mercedes.

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  Listen to my words - 2009 Hyundai Genesis
  By Dsplash - December 11 - 11:36 am

  Great Car, much greater than my previous Avalon.. Actually, uncomparable..., im sorry. Genesis deserves my loyalty to its brand. Those who read this comment should rethink about the brand image of Hyundai. Just remember, Toyota and Lexus were once thought of as inferior.

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  Best value - 2008 Hyundai Elantra
  By daniduo - December 10 - 8:33 pm

  Theres only good things to say about this vehicle. I traded in my SANTA FE, and I can tell you Hyundai is getting better and better.

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  Best vehicle for the money - 2006 Hyundai TUCSON
  By D. Ziegler - December 10 - 6:03 pm

  The beginning of the year I had my eye on the small Lexus SUV. I waited until Nov to check it out. Then went to see the Tucson. Within 2 weeks we decided to make an offer to test drive it and ultimately purchased the vehicle. The personnel were by far the most honest and experienced. The process went very smoothly and did not have to wait for any unnecessary time frame. We couldnt have asked for a more uncomplicated and smooth process. Id highly recommend this dealership; and, more importantly, the TUCSON as the absolute best buy for the money. I tell you what, you will change your mind just as I did once you give this SUV a chance. So, check it our for yourself. I highly recommend it.

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  I love my new car - 2003 Hyundai Sonata
  By Bob King - December 10 - 2:00 am

  In the past ten years, Ive driven Honda Accords and I like them. This year I just bought Sonata, my and I like it better than the Accords we owned before. After we test driving the Sonata, my wife wanted to buy this car instead of Accord, Carmy, and Passat. After I a few days research, most information I got from Ednunds and NSM auto sites, I made up my mind to buy this car. We paid $18,300 for this 2003 LX (at) with sunroof plus tax

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  A GREAT RIDE - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By gtv6 - December 10 - 2:00 am

  This car is definitely a great ride in all aspects of a sporty coupe. The handling is just awesome! So much torque is assisting the power output of the 2.7 V6 engine thats potent. Looks of this car is just amazing.. I think its one of the best looking sport compacts out there. No wonder this new tiburon made it to the list of 8 Great Rides award given annually by Sport Compact Car magazine. So many options for under 20,000 dollars. Great Styling, Great Performance, and Great Dependability all comes together in this car.