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 the car! - 2012 Hyundai TUCSON
  By timtimtim - May 15 - 2:17 am

  We purchased our 2012 Tuscon in around November of 2011. So far, we love the car. We havent had a single issue and its a great car to drive. Its not fast but it does fine getting in and out of traffic. In city driving we get 25mpg almost every tank, sadly though we get just slightly better (27-28) on the highway at about 70-75mph. The interior quality is good for the price point of the car, it looks good and everything fits well. no rattles or anything so far and were at about 15k miles.

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  ITS LIKE DYING AND GOING TO HEAVEN - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By JC58220 - May 14 - 7:43 am

  Comfortable, great options, good dealer, sharp looking -- an eye opener on the road. Has come a long way and to boot the best warranty in the industry. I feel its the best deal for the money around -- recommend to anyone looking for a great looking car at a good price and unbelievable warranty.

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  2006 Azera Performance review - 2006 Hyundai Azera
  By vjk6666 - May 13 - 7:40 pm

  Azera is an outstanding combination of luxury, performance, styling and quality. In almost 6 months it is still thrilling to discover new capibilities that this vehicle has.

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  Hyundai Sonata - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By bhud - May 12 - 1:28 pm

  We love it! Great Fuel Mileage!

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  Tough to beat the 2011 Sonata Limited - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By ezsabatino - May 11 - 10:23 pm

  Love my new 2011 Sonata. Great value, great design, great ride, highly rated for safety and extremely well equipped. Getting about 37 MPG! And car has plenty of power for a 4 cyl with 198 HP.

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  Well Satisfied - 2006 Hyundai Azera
  By Ron DeVice - May 11 - 1:56 pm

  Very satisfied. I got the light tan interior. Floor mats are too light colored & get dirty very easily. The mats are low quality Carpet.The mileage estimates are disappointing.I drive mostly in city & only get 12.8 MPG> (Very Disappointing from what they advertised ???.Its an excellent car, for the money.Hyundais warranty is great & my wife has an Elantra which we are very happy with.

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  Look Out Toyota, Honda and Mazda - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By Maurice - May 11 - 3:46 am

  I bought my 2006 Hyundai Sonata GLS June 16 and put it to the test. My car passed with flying colors on a 750-mile RT to NH. Trip average mpg was 31.5 - speeds to NH often topped 75 mph and the trip up was 30.5 mpg - southbound was 32.5 mpg. The 4-speed AT performed flawlessly and the Shiftronic clutchless manual is a breeze - downshifting automatically while upshifting is yours. Cabin soundproofing is excellent and the double-wishbone front suspension firm with a good ride even over the pothole-filled ramps to the GW Bridge. The 4-cyl,162hp engine has lots of zip, even up the long, I84 grades north of Hartford. RPM is 2.4k at 70 mph. Hyundai hit a homer with this car!

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  Ecstatic about Elantra GT Hatchback - 2004 Hyundai Elantra
  By fourbreads - May 11 - 2:00 am

  I just picked up my new 2004 Hyundai Elantra GT Hatchback, automatic, ABS, Moonroof, Tidal Wave color. Could not be happier with this choice. Had to wait about 3 months for this particular color/option combination to come in but it was worth the wait. This is one fun car to drive & the amenities are unbeleivable for a $17,000 car. Get this car now since the rebate went up to $1250.

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  NOT BAD, NEEDS BETTER SOUND - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By CPABILL - May 11 - 2:00 am

  I purchased this vehicle as a second vehicle, my other car is a convertible, not much room. I like just about everything about it, but, and there is alway a but, the reason the gas milage is so low is the beafy 3.5ltr engine, does not put out HP, it is torky. compare other 3.5ltr engines and they are putting out 225 to 280hp, this engine is putting out only 195hp. The sound system is week, it is supposed to have a seperatly powered subwoofer in each door, that means you should be able to feel the music, even at low volume, not true with this one.

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  go for it, wont regret... - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Steven Lee - May 10 - 10:00 am

  you get more for money. nice ride and safe