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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  BEST SUV - 2001 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By RASCAL - April 26 - 7:40 pm

  THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST SUVS ON THE MARKET. IT HAS ONE OF THE HIGHEST GROUND CLEARANCE. THE ONLY THING THAT IS HIGHER IS A FORD EXPEDITION AND ONLY BY .5 INCHES. THIS IS ONE FUN SUV TO DRIVE.

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  Great Value, Design and Build Quality - 2010 Hyundai Veracruz
  By OCCruz - April 25 - 9:30 pm

  We looked at them all and you wont find another SUV in this class that gives you a better value. Reminds me of a slightly bigger Lexus RX350 for about $8K less.

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  Lots of car for the buck - 2005 Hyundai Elantra
  By Steven - April 25 - 5:20 pm

  I love my hyundai , not the best resale value but everything else you need is there, I have a 5- spd man. and they are very peppy for a 2 liter. The warranty sells the car , I dont regret buying it at all close to 40 mpg , i commute and it saves me lots in gas.

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  Fun New Car - 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Todd - April 25 - 5:10 pm

  I have driven friends Sante Fe for a year. we just bought one love it

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  Love the Azera - 2006 Hyundai Azera
  By Christy - April 24 - 4:20 am

  This is a great car....very comfortable and fun to drive. It is smooth, quiet, and loaded with features. I like the sound system, power seats, tilt steering, auto lights, rain sensing wipers, etc. etc. I recommend this vehicle to anyone who wants a car with wonderful fit and finish at a reasonable price.

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  Great Buy - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By Gary A - April 24 - 2:00 am

  No problems whatsoever thus far (besides the recall). A great car for a great price. Reliable, fuel efficient, and stylish. Hope it has longevity too!

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  Great Suv - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Davis04 - April 24 - 2:00 am

  Everything on our 2004 is Very nice, Plenty of pickup power,needs getting used to,Seat warmers are nice just wish they heated up a little faster.all in all a lot for the money. I will post again in 3 years with a longevity update.

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  Nice ride - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By StevenM - April 24 - 2:00 am

  Love the vehicle, however the steering wheel and drivers seat cant coordinate to get comfortable with me.

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  Well Built Vehicle - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Sunnil - April 23 - 3:26 pm

  Needed to upgrade to a larger vehcile for a growing family and with the help of all of the reviews on this site I found the Santa Fe the most functional of all the compact-midsize people movers out there. This suv maneuvers very well, stands tall enough to see over the traffic without having bad blind spots. Easy to park, entry/exit is good and love the cargo space for all of the required baby gear my wife and I need to haul around. I bought this vechile pre-owned, and with the gas prices falling, were getting about 20.5mpg in mix driving, I definitly recommend this Hyundai to any small family looking for a good price on a suv with sound quality, safety and long list of std features.

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  Sante Fe Reveiw - 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Dan - April 23 - 12:03 pm

  We bought this vehicle to replace a 4 wheel drive pickup. It has done that plus has given much more comfort. It is such a pleasure to drive. The fuel ecomony could be better, but it is getting at least what is stated on the sticker. It would be nice if the rear leather seats would also be heated. Overall we a very well pleased with this vehicle.