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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  Second Generation Love - 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By FeRay - September 22 - 8:50 pm

  Traded my 01 Santa FE LX in on this and couldnt be happier. This is my 3rd Santa Fe but the first 2nd generation model I have owned and I am very impressed with the overall improvement. 100 more horses than my 01 and 2-3 mpg more on average makes me smile. This car has big shoes to fill since my 01 had 150k miles on it and never let me down in the 9 years I had it. Im sure it wont disappoint, if so the dealer can fix it under warranty.

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  i would definently buy again - 2012 Hyundai Sonata
  By scottyspamman - September 22 - 3:21 pm

  i work out of my car and spend alot of time in it. 40k,yr that being said, i am 6 1, 230 lbs, and this has alot more room than any other car in its class. seriously. i looked at accord and camry, but if you spend 2 minutes in this car you will LOVE IT. again tons of room, a slap shift when you want power. it get 30 mpg at the pump. ive gotten 39mpg on a long road trip. the engine is quiet, it is very comfortable, it doesnt look like a grandma mobile, i carry 3 duffel bags of medical supplies in the trunk with room to spare. and it has a 5 star crash rating. its alot cheaper then its copetition. but, you will notice a difference in build quality. nothing substancial though

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  Great Extras, Great price - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Casual - September 22 - 3:33 am

  2002 Santa Fe LX 4X4. I am a ASE certified Master Technician so I know a little about cars. We have had this vehicle a little over a month now and every day I find another reason to be impressed. Time is the major test for any vehicle and so far, The santa Fe is getting all As.

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  Wow - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By psguzzo - September 21 - 1:06 pm

  I have had 4 Hyundais starting years ago with an Accent, Great car traded up again to a new 2004 Elantra, Burned almost no fuel unbelieveable quality and comfort for the price. Then got a Tiburon but after 1 week I was hit while at a light by a Truck total loss. Just got a beautiful new Sonata metallic Blue with the great new 3.3 V6 which blows away the V6 in the Tiburon on both Power and Gas mileage. So far in my 30yrs of driving the only other car I liked as much was my new 1989 Ford Probe GT Turbo!

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  Luv my Hyundai - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By Hyundai Owner - September 21 - 5:13 am

  On a budget of only $14,000, I wanted to find a good pre-owned family sedan and my choice was between a 2002 Honda Accord LX with 78,000 miles w/ barely any options or a 2006 Sonata V6 with 28,000 miles fully loaded. Well after the test drive, hands down the Sonata had every the Accord had and plenty more. The ride is smooth w/ in my opinion a good fuel economy V6. I had test driven 3 different V6 Sonatas at the same dealership and all were averaging about 25-26mpg. The car I finally decided to get still averages that in mix driving and I recently did a road trip where I put @ 70mph 450 miles with the trip computer indicating 55 miles more til empty. This is an awesome car.

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  Nice Car - 2003 Hyundai Sonata
  By scott7758 - September 21 - 2:00 am

  Cant beat the car for the price. Once it broken in the performance improves greatly. I would recommend it to my friends. I am going to have to take it in because the blower moter is having trouble. Very loud all the sudden

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  SEE HOW IT RATES - 2004 Hyundai Accent
  By SARAH - September 21 - 2:00 am

  THE CAR IS A 2001 AND I BOUGHT IT IN 2002 AND BEOFRE MY YEAR WAS UP WHEN I BOUGHT IT THE TRANSMECHINE WENT OUT IN IT SO THE BUT ONE IN AND NOT 1 DAY THAT ONE WAS BAD SO THEY HAD TO PUT ANOTHER ONE IN. I ALSO DINT KNOW THAT I HAD SENSOR TO TELL ME THAT MY BRAKES NEEDED TO BE CHANGED. SO FOR AWHIKE I THOUGHT SOMETHING WAS WRONG BUT COME TO FIND OUT IT WAS MY FRONT BRAKES. HAD TO FIX THAT. BUT OVERALL NOT TO MANY MORE PROBLEMS.

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  Buy It! - 2006 Hyundai Azera
  By Don Campbell - September 20 - 3:10 pm

  Quality is the primary reason I bought the Azera. Looks good. Rides good. Feels good.

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  2nd rate car? - 2003 Hyundai Accent
  By zoomzoomgirl - September 20 - 2:00 am

  This car is an excellent 1st car. It has a great warranty, and excellent safety features. However, this car isnt worthy if you plan on buying it, then trading it in after a few years.

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  Love my Tiburon - 2001 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Yellow Tib - September 19 - 10:00 am

  Ive had the car from a couple of years now and have driven it pretty much from one end of the US and back again with no problems whatsoever. The car is a huge amount of fun to drive, especially for the price that I paid. My version is a stick shift, so I have no complaints on the power but I imagine as an automatic youd definitely notice the difference. As a little extra bonus, I regularly get compliments from strangers on the looks of my vehicle which has never happened to me before. I know Hyundai has a bad rep but I would have no problem recommending the vehicle to anyone and have no plans to trade it in anytime soon.