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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  Love My Santa Fe - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By leslie - November 9 - 10:00 am

  I have had my Santa Fe for 3 weeks and am still in love with her. It has easy access to air conditioning and radio controls and the ability to shift manually. The Santa Fe has beautiful lines and styling and has a very smooth ride. I tried the Honda CRV and the Toyato Rav and they didnt hold a candle to the Santa Fe in terms of looks, standard features, roominess and price. The 5 year/60,000 mile warrenty was a great added feature. Beats them all.

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  Very Very Impressed - 2002 Hyundai XG350
  By Dadfergy - November 9 - 10:00 am

  My last two cars were Buicks and I was used to a smooth riding and solid car. The XG350 is both. Although I havent had it long the car is well put together and I havent found any assemly defects. The acceleration is better than I expected and the ride excellent. I brought the XG350L so the car has everything you could want. All the fuctions work perfectly and all the gadgets work good like they should. Im really pleased with the deal I got on the car and the amount of car I got for the money. People should not be afraid of the Hyundai name, since Hyundai has been building vehicles for 50 plus years.

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  XG350 - Luxury for the masses - 2002 Hyundai XG350
  By danthom67 - November 9 - 10:00 am

  We are very pleased with our 1st year of XG350 ownership. The car has luxury features normally reserved for much costlier cars. The 3.5L engine is very responsive, and the ride is smooth and quiet. We are hopeful that the car will remain a pleasure to drive, and troublefree. The Hyundai warantee adds to our sense of auto-contentment.

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  New Elantra 2003 - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By kuya94 - November 9 - 10:00 am

  My 2003 elantra Having 60 series 15” Mich tires front and rear Stabilizers bars and 2.0 Liter engine Makes for quick and easy Back road driving. Yet with the 4 speed automatic trans turning the motor about 2200 rpms at about 65 mph has got to be more than 33 mpg highway mileage and having a ten year 100,000 mile warranty and 9990 price tag what else can you ask for.

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  Fantastic car - 2006 Hyundai Elantra
  By Danvik - November 9 - 8:13 am

  Thi small sedan has a smooth, comfortable drive. Handles like a mid- size, and has that much room. Fantastic car.

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  MY BABY !!! - 2010 Hyundai Elantra
  By Eddie Boyce - November 8 - 5:06 am

  I am a three time Elantra Owner since 2000. This a quality and safety all wrapped in one beautiful package in the Apple Read Pearl. I wish we American Car Manufacturers can build and Sell for the same low price as I got this Hyundai for. I paid $16,000 out the door in cash for MY BABY! My Baby has auto,CD,XM asnd cruise control. I got an unbelievable deal, because its a buyers market at this time.

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  Best Performance-Value Ratio. - 2009 Hyundai Genesis
  By Young - November 7 - 3:13 pm

  After four months of ownership, I am extremely pleased with the car. The feel and comfort of the car are excellent. The highway ride and acceleration are super. The overall quality matches or surpasses that of most luxury sedans on the market -- except that Genesis costs thousands of dollars less. Looks great inside and out. Easily, one of the top performance - value vehicles on the road.

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  Long lasting - 1995 Hyundai Elantra
  By Medina - November 7 - 8:04 am

  I have a 1995 Hyundai Elantra. This car has lasted longer than any car that I have ever had. My husband keeps up the regular maintenance and oil changes. It takes off like a jet and is a smooth ride even after 14 years. The only problem that we have had is the gear shift sticking and the door handles needing repair. When taking off this car leaves the others in the dust!

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  Solid vehicle - 2009 Hyundai Elantra
  By Joegiant - November 7 - 4:40 am

  So far, so good. For those shopping for a good, reliable, relatively inexpensive commuter vehicle, this may in fact be the one. Youre not buying prestige but rather "bang for the buck". Hyundai truly has packed alot of punch into this car for the pricepoint. Many standard safety features too numerous to list. Comfortable ride. Decent gas mileage (getting about 34 on the hwy after 5,000 miles break-in). Slushbox trans works the way its supposed to - trouble free. Start er up, put er in drive and away you go. Trouble free transportation. With Cash for Clunkers program, after all the smoke, paid under $11k for this 09 Elantra SE. Truly remarkable. Give this company a serious look!

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  What-a-car - 2007 Hyundai Azera
  By bigdave - November 6 - 4:08 pm

  I bought this car with 3k mi on it, original owners decided they wanted the Limited. I have the 3.3lt engine which provides 253HP. Very quick and nimble,20mpg in town and 30+ on the highway! Kind of wish i had the 3.8 engine but mileage would suffer. It could use a little more noise dampening and thats about it. Its a full size car, lots of room with a large trunk capacity. Terrific car!