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 Suv - 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By e, comer - July 9 - 4:36 am

  My family and I are pretty pleased with our purchase. The suv is roomy but also small enough to handle & park easily. We love it. We had an easy time purchasing the auto from the dealer but the dealer once we went off the lot didnt care what happened after that. We had two incidents happen as we drove off the lot and one has not been addressed yet by them... yet they state that the autos go thru a 37 pt inspection. Will probably not buy from this dealership again, but will definitely buy another Suv like this one as we are enjoying it.

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  Beautiful car - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By serzak - July 8 - 9:10 pm

  This is a beautiful car with all of the luxuries of a much expensive car. It is a head turned and we love driving it.

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  Sweet ride. - 2003 Hyundai Sonata
  By Starbreaker666 - July 8 - 10:00 am

  Fun car. wife loves it. I highly recommend it. nuff said.

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  hyundai for life - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By jackie - July 8 - 10:00 am

  My first car i purchased on my own was a Hyundai accent. it was very affordable with gas and maintenence. The only money i ever spent was for the tires and brakes..THATs IT! So when it came time to upgrade 7 years later, of course my first thoughts were about the NEW 2003 Tiburon "shark". It was in my price range-under 20,000!!! Including leather interior,abs,cruise, alloy etc. etc. etc. All i have to say is Im a hot girl in a hot car.

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  Luv it - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By Ize - July 8 - 10:00 am

  I enjoy driving this car. The space is also good, looks, mpg, features. And most of all it was priced very well for all you get.

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  HAPPY IN INDY - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By Kathy - July 8 - 2:20 am

  Love my new car. Have had Hondas and Nissans but this is far my best vehicle. Great on mileage. Drove it to Chicago to break in. Averaged 41 hwy and 27 city which was great. Would recommend it to everyone.

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  The Newest Car I Ever Owned - 2004 Hyundai Elantra
  By T. S. - July 6 - 1:31 am

  I just recently bought my 2004 Elantra and it had 25,000 miles on it. It runs like it was brand new. I love this car inside and out. It comfortable, starts right up and it a smooth drive. This is the newest car I ever owned. I used a 92 Talon as a trade in. I miss the Turbo, but love the reliability of this car so much more. I would recommend the Elantra to anyone looking at one.

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  My 2nd Hyundai - 2003 Hyundai Sonata
  By M. Spivey - July 4 - 10:56 pm

  Love this car. I had a 1993 Elantra before this one and kept it 10 years. This car well exceeds what you pay for it. I get compliments all the time on how nice it looks and in the 2 years I have had it the only thing I had to take it back to the dealer for was a defective sun visor. I wouldnt hesitated to recommend the Sonata. Truly a "bang for the buck."

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  love it - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By nick - July 4 - 10:16 pm

  I hope this will be helpful. I absolutely love my Sonanta. Every where I go people are asking about it. It seems everybody is interseted but timid because of Hyundais old reputation. Well its gone. Before I bought my Sonata I owned a 99 Pontiac Grand Prix GT. I thought that was fun to drive but it was nothing compared to my Sonata. The Sonata is comfortable, nice styling, practical, fully loaded, fast, and the engine is very quiet even when stepping on the pedal. My advice, if you are in the sedan hunt, buy the 2006 Sonata. Hyundai is definetely taking a huge step in the auto industry. If you are looking for luxury wait a year or so Hyundai is coming out with high line to compete with Lexus, BMW and such.

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  2005 Hyundai Sonata - 2005 Hyundai Sonata
  By cross - July 3 - 9:36 pm

  I dont have a lot of miles, but so far I have really enjoyed the car. I traded in a 2004 Honda Accord, and have not regreted it. In fact, my old Honda is still sitting on the car lot. However, there is a faint vibration coming from behind the dash...and I cant find it. It is driving me nuts. Also the radio is probably the most annoying radio every made. Why is there a tape deck with it...can you still buy tapes? The car has been fun, it had good acceleration and makes heads turn. Its my mini- Jag. To my supprise, there are several aftermarket items for it. One last thing, it corners well, but tends to sway a little too much sometimes. I could put some anti-sway bars on or slow down....