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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  Super Buy - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By Stan - December 5 - 9:10 am

  Compared to Toyota Camry, the Sonata LX is a super buy. Has all the added feature of the Camry at a much lower price.

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  Best vehicle for the money. - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By SAMSON - December 4 - 5:43 pm

  I recently bought my vehicle and other than having a slight noise on the window while its going up and down I must say Im quite satisfied for now.

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  GREAT VALUE ACCENT GT - 2004 Hyundai Accent
  By Tom Thompson - December 4 - 1:42 pm

  Impressive little car for the price that is economical, has side air bags, a long warranty, excellent build quality, a good radio, great headlights at night and it is stable in the wind.

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  Its a car.... - 2000 Hyundai Elantra
  By jbpdx - December 4 - 11:30 am

  This is a simple 4 door car. Came with a stereo that worked, does good on gas, and is reliable. For the money it can not be beat. The warranty is like icing on the cake...

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  neat car - 2005 Hyundai TUCSON
  By jvan - December 3 - 11:53 pm

  have 2k miles on car it handles beautiful-very well built-i drive it sometimes just for fun-my first non american car-had 22 new u.s. cars over the years got tired of them nickel diming me on repairs after 50k miles or so.i enjoy this car almost as much as my 67 gto{restored}-thank you

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  Great transportation - 2002 Hyundai Accent
  By Gren - December 3 - 5:30 pm

  I bought my Accent instead of renting a car when my primary car was being repaired. 2 years later I still have the Hyundai, have let several people in my family borrow the car and I have had nor heard no complaints. It has never required any repairs what-so-ever. It gets good gas mileage and is comfortable to drive even on long trips. The interior noise level is a bit high at freeway speeds and it is lacking horsepower, but I didnt buy it with any great expectations of luxury or performance. I am very pleased with the car overall. I highly recommend it for its class of vehicle - Good, Solid, Economical transportation.

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  3 New Hyundais and Counting - 2004 Hyundai Elantra
  By 3timmer - December 3 - 12:10 pm

  This is my 2nd Elantra and 3rd Hyundai. Purchase a 1998 Accent for my daughter in college. The first time we drove into the driveway and stopped the front signal light assembly fell out and dangled by the wires, I thought, oh no, what a mistake. The car has more than 100,000 trouble free miles on it now and is being driven 1,000 miles a week now, WOW. Just put my 01 Elantra up for sale with 100,000 trouble free miles after buying a discounted year end 04 Elantra for a mere $10,500, includes moonroof, upgraded stereo, side airbags, and a 5 speed this time. The best bang for my buck. A Lexus it is not, but dependable, efficient, comfortable, and inexpensive it is!

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  FANTASTIC CAR! ZIPPY & GOOD LOOKIN - 2004 Hyundai Sonata
  By Dan - December 3 - 11:16 am

  What a lot of car for the price! With incentives, this car came down to about 13,500! Feels like a luxury car, and drives like a sports car! I love it! It looks sporty too. Like a Jaguar, at a fraction of the cost. Hyundai knows what its doing!

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  If it only had a more comfortable ride... - 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By steelydan - December 1 - 8:35 pm

  This review applies only to the SE and Limted trims with the 18" wheels........NOT THE GLS trim with 16" wheels......BIG DIFFERENCE. My wife drives the 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe, good thing, because I would have traded in this rough riding bronco by now...... The engine is sweet, brakes good, interior is well thought out, exterior is good. The biggest and , unfortunately, most notable con is the HARSH ride over the many bumps and potholes on our crappy streets here in West Houston. The 18" wheels are a performance choice for the Santa Fe, as they are the wheels for the SE and Limited trims, not the base GLS trim. It is unfortunate that the BASE model Santa Fe is a more comfortable ride !!!

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  One Great Car !! - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Troy D. Jackson - December 1 - 10:00 am

  So much fun to drive and very stylish.