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 car ever - 2012 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid
  By ancasterguy - November 2 - 12:50 am

  I purchased my hybrid with everything. I took the Nav package with red and the tan interior. The handling is great. Mileage is great! Looks of the car is great. I get so many compliments. Awesome car! LOVE IT! It drives so smooth and quiet. I have read where some people complain of slight delays when they hit the gas. Ive never noticed that. It has lots of power when I push the pedal. Just a wonderful car. The selection on here for model only gives "base" as a selection. In Canada we get base, then LTD then Navigation package which has the works. Not really any options to buy other than winter floor mats.

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  Who knew a Hyundai is this good? - 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By tcb - November 1 - 3:10 pm

  Good value for the money. Expected to buy a used RAV4 or similar small CUV but got a good deal: MSRP at 27k, bought at 23k. Wish sunroof came standard but having it added, which upped price to 24k out the door. Comfortable, stylish, good cargo space. I had smaller, sportier cars before this so Im adjusting to driving a mid-sized SUV. Easy to drive and very good acceleration.

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  Cant go wrong with the ECO - 2015 Hyundai Sonata
  By Anthony W - October 31 - 12:48 am

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  Quality if you can get over the name - 2010 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Michael - October 30 - 7:46 pm

  Getting over the Hyundai name was my biggest hurdle. In the past the design was so bulgy and bloated. It is obvious they out sourced the design of this car. It is so clean! The lines are smooth and strong, the fit and finish are the best in the business. The driving experience is fantastic. Not as plush as our Lexus RX 330, but I feel for the price, it is the best value by far.

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  2004 350L - 2004 Hyundai XG350
  By Phillip Geimer - October 29 - 6:53 am

  The car has beautiful styling, rides very nice, has all of the amenities of a much more expensive car, even has a full size spare tire that has a matching alloy wheel, I recently went on a 1000 mile trip with it and it performed flawlessly.

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  Best of the best - 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Vince - October 29 - 4:50 am

  My Santa Fe is a pleasure to drive. The comfort equals the luxury of a touring sedan. Handling is quick and very responsive with little leaning movement. Both normal and evasive braking w/ABS, even on wet roads, is excellent. Interior standard equipment, optional on most other SUVs, is far superior. The sterio system is both powerful and pleasurable. The radio tuning in system is incredible bringing in FM stations more than 60 miles away. The five year bumper to bumper warrantee is the best of all not to leave out the ten year 100,000 miles power train warrentee which dwarfs the other top named car companies. Tires for life is another standard feature which makes your choice even easier.

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  I love this Car!! - 2004 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Loveis4me - October 29 - 2:00 am

  I bought this car last September and I absolutely love it. It is a fun little car and I am so glad that I bought it.

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  Excellent value - 2004 Hyundai Elantra
  By Scrp3 - October 29 - 2:00 am

  I have had this car for a year, and I love it. Its fun to drive, VERY comfortable on long road trips, and great on gas. There is TONS of storage space when the back seat is folded down. My only complaints are the bad paint quality (its already chipping) and the cheap sun visors (the mirror cover-flap has fallen off TWICE, even after being replaced with a brand new

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  Hyundai review - 2004 Hyundai Elantra
  By morningcalm - October 29 - 2:00 am

  great value for the money with many options (e.g. traction control, 6 speakers not available on other compacts in same class)

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  Great Car for the price - 2004 Hyundai Elantra
  By good1 - October 29 - 2:00 am

  I recently bought the Hyundai Elantra 4 dr GT hatchback. I found this car is much better than the Elantra I bought back in 2000. Much better suspension, much better handling on the curves. Comes with an MP3 player standard. I love this car! The seats are very comfy and adjustable with lumbar support. All leather interior. You have to take one for a test drive! The only thing I dont like about it is where the cup holders are placed. Pretty minor.