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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  Good Ride - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By PPeterson - August 2 - 2:00 am

  The Hyndai Santa Fe is fun to drive. The standard shift, however, has one get a little too friendly with the passenger. The vehicle has good looks, a comfortable ride, and easy conversion to put back seats down. After driving a standard shift Camry for 19 years, the gas milage seems higher than I am used to. I still enjoy the Santa Fe and have found it useful and affordable.

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  hyundai santa fe vs toyota rav4 - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By plb - August 2 - 2:00 am

  santa fe as an automatic seems to have more power than manual rav4 2.4 engine. there certainly seems to be more interior room in the santa fe than the rav4, both front and back seats, according to my 57" daughter whom has sat in both front/back seats during trips. i loved my rav4, but have found that i have a new favorite. just bought this santa fe 2/2/04---well see

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  Excellent choice for my money - 2005 Hyundai Sonata
  By bdnebhut - August 2 - 1:47 am

  I truly love this car! Even though it doesnt have all the horsepower Id like it too, it still has more than enough to get you from point A to B and everywhere in between. This vehicle is designed and styled to be luxury but without the overpricing that other dealers have. Great car! Excellent value!

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  Better than ALL the rest! - 2008 Hyundai Elantra
  By mpg3 - August 1 - 8:53 pm

  I have test driven and/or researched every higher MPG vehicle out there. The Hyundai is the winner, hands down. The warranty was a deciding factor, along with the price with incentives, of course. The Elantra is very roomy and comparable in roominess to my Ford Explorer Ltd. V8. The MPG is a definite plus! I love to drive this car. It handles extremely well driving between cars, etc. There is no drag as I found with other similar cars when I was test driving, the Honda Fit, for example. This was the most impressive, with the Nissan Sentra, a close second. This car beat the Sentra though in safety, warranty, and price, among others. Daughter will drive and want one for Mom, too.

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  Lots of convenience features - 2015 Hyundai Sonata
  By Satisfied owner - July 31 - 2:11 pm

  Hyundai has more features as standard in the Limited model than you would find in the higher priced competition with their standard equipment package. Why would anyone want to buy one of the high priced spread cars when this one has everything you would want. Have only owned it for 4 weeks and love it. Previous vehicle was also a Hyundai.

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  Best economy car to buy - 2005 Hyundai Accent
  By Donald - July 31 - 1:37 pm

  This is totally a fun car to drive. Very reliable, extremely good on gas. Hyundai has really improved over the last 10 years. Also the price was excellent, with the features it provides.

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  Sweet Ride - 2006 Hyundai Azera
  By dclarno - July 31 - 1:16 pm

  I have had an Acura and an Oldsmobile and this is miles ahead of both and considerably less expensive.

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  Wow - What a Car - 2016 Hyundai Genesis
  By Jerry Krug - July 31 - 11:27 am

  I have owned my Genesis for 14 months and still get excited every time I get behind the wheel. Before buying the Genesis I test drove the 5 series BMW and E Class Mercedes. They are very nice cars but didnt show me anything better than the Genesis even at the much higher price. The design, and quality of workmanship is excellent especially the interior comfort. There are many great standard features but I also choose to equip my car with the signature and technology packages which I recommend. The adaptive cruise and lane holding features are great for long trips but do take a little getting used to. The only con I can think of is the temperature control dial which is too small and sensitive to control. This car is very quiet, handles precisely and has smooth ride. Has to be the best value in a luxury sedan.

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  I Love it, I love it, I love it! - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By CEM879 - July 31 - 10:00 am

  I love this car! Before I was never a big foreign car fan, but after I saw the Tiburon, I started only looking at foreign cars. I got so much for the price! Everyone stares at the car when they see it. I love the attention!

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  Great car for the money - 2000 Hyundai Elantra
  By Garrett - July 31 - 2:54 am

  Excellent experience both in city driving and nine round trips Ohio to Florida and one Ohio to Colorado. Car gets good gas mileage, uses no oil between changes, shifts smoothly (5speed), has good vision, gets good tire wear, handles well at both low and high speeds, stops straight, provides excellent driver comfort with lumbar support seat. Still have original brakes at 55000 miles, orginal exhaust system after five Ohio winters (salt, ice, snow, slush), original batter, and no rust at all. The car has been totally reliable. It has never had a operational problem.