Toyota is one of the most popular car brands in the world, and performs rather well in the United States with models like the Camry and RAV4. However, it’s not alone at the top. Competitors like Hyundai have been selling more and more cars every year as they evolve with new models, better reliability, and fresh, modern styling. This may raise the question of whether Toyota is better than Hyundai. Well, in this Hyundai vs. Toyota comparison, we learn the differences between the two brands, their reliability, sales figures, and more. Both brands offer a range of vehicles, from cheap compact commuter cars to full-size SUVs, electric models, and trucks. So, ehich manufacturer comes out on top?
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Hyundai
- Founded
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29 December 1967
- Founder
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Chung Ju-yung
- Headquarters
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Seoul, South Korea
- Owned By
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Hyundai Motor Group
- Current CEO
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Jose Munoz
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Toyota
- Founded
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August 28, 1937
- Founder
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Kiichiro Toyoda
- Headquarters
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Aichi, Japan
- Owned By
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Publicly Traded
- Current CEO
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Koji Sato
This comparison between Toyota and Hyundai includes a brand overview, a discussion of each brand’s reliability, and respective sales figures. Prices are correct at the time of writing, and exclude destination, taxes, options, and other fees. Manufacturers reserve the right to change prices at any time without notice.
Hyundai vs Toyota: A Basic Overview
Asking if Hyundai or Toyota is better than the other might seem like a straightforward question, but it becomes more difficult when you start to break down the core differences between each brand, what its target audience is, and how each automaker goes about achieving its goals. It might be easy to say Toyota is better, which may be true from some standpoints, but let’s discuss why.
Hyundai Brand Overview
Hyundai was first incorporated in the United States in 1967 with the name “Hyundai Motor Company.” Its first assembly plant opened its doors in 1968, but it didn’t start producing Hyundais right away – the first vehicle to roll off the assembly line was actually the Ford Cortina. Hyundai’s first production passenger car was the Pony in 1976. One of the brand’s most popular models, the Sonata, launched its first generation in 1985, and continues its legacy to today. As it stands, Hyundai has been beating sales record after sales record for four years in a row, but we’ll get to that later.
Toyota Brand Overview
Toyota got an early start in the US with its first dealership opening in Hollywood, California in 1957. Sales began in 1958 with 287 Toyopet Crown sedans and a single Land Cruiser; unfortunately, the American market frowned upon how under-powered and overpriced the sedan was in comparison to competitors. It didn’t take long to regain its footing after discontinuing the Toyopet in 1961, and by 1963, Toyota had 125 dealerships in the United States with the Land Cruiser as the only available model. Despite this modest beggining, Toyota remains one of the best-selling and most reliable brands today.
Hyundai Versus Toyota Models
As of the 2025 model year, Toyota sells over thirty models when separating the hybrid and plug-in hybrid variants as their own models, or twenty-one unique nameplates. Hyundai offers 23 models, but still has plenty of variety and far more electric vehicles; Toyota’s only EV is the bZ4X (soon to be simplified to the bZ), while Hyundai offers the Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6, Ioniq 9, and the Kona Electric.
2025 Toyota Models
Toyota’s lineup is a diverse spread of economy cars, SUVs in multiple segments, and some of the best pickup trucks on the market. The automaker’s range starts with the affordable Corolla – its smallest sedan. Compact sedans are nothing special or new, as is the case with the current Corolla. However, it still manages to impress since it has standard wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and manages to achieve 32/41/35 mpg city/highway/combined. If you’re on a tight budget, you really can’t go wrong with this one.
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2025 Toyota Corolla LE Specs Overview |
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|---|---|
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Base Price |
$22,325 |
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Powertrain |
2.0L Inline-four |
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Transmission |
Dynamic-shift CVT |
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Horsepower | Torque |
169 hp | 151 lb-ft |
On the other end of the spectrum, Toyota’s most expensive models are, surprisingly, not the brand’s sports cars. The GR Supra is a fun sports car that’s not cheap, but the really expensive models are the full-size Tundra pickup truck and the large Sequoia SUV. Taking the podium for the most expensive Toyota model is the latter, starting at $62,425 for the 2025 model year. Under the hood is a 3.4-liter twin-turbo V6 hybrid that makes 437 horsepower and 538 lb-ft of torque, and it can tow up to 9,520 pounds. Its most expensive trim is the Capstone, which starts at $83,915 before destination, options, and other fees.
2025 Hyundai Models
Hyundai might offer fewer models, but its range is no less diverse. We already mentioned the brand’s EV lineup, which is impressive, and some of them could be considered as among the best electric vehicles on sale right now. Those aren’t necessarily cheap, though. Hyundai’s least-expensive model is the Venue compact SUV, which starts at $20,200 for the 2025 model year. There’s room for up to five passengers and 31.9 cubic feet of cargo behind the front seats, plus it still gets a reasonable 29/33/31 mpg city/highway/combined. The rest of the base-model Venue’s specs are in the table below.
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2025 Hyundai Venue SE Specs Overview |
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|---|---|
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Base Price |
$20,200 |
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Powertrain |
1.6L Inline-four |
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Transmission |
Intelligent Variable Transmission (IVT) |
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Horsepower | Torque |
121 hp | 113 lb-ft |
The most expensive Hyundai you can buy for the 2025 model year is the Ioniq 5 N. It starts at $66,200, which sounds steep for a Hyundai, but might be worth it for the performance and surprisingly high-quality interior. Driving all four wheels are two electric motors, one for each axle, that make a combined 641 horsepower and 568 lb-ft of torque when “N Grin Mode” is active. Like other high-powered electric cars, it’s pretty quick off the line; the Ioniq 5 N can sprint from 0 to 60 mph in just 3.2 seconds.
Hyundai vs Toyota Reliability
Do We Really Have To Ask?
It’s easy to spot the winner in a debate about Hyundai reliability vs Toyota. While Hyundai has certainly started to come around in recent years, it’s still not anywhere near achieving Toyota’s legendary reputation. The Korean brand has had a reputation for cheap cars both in price and quality for years, but the last half a decade or so has shown significant improvement. Toyota vs Hyundai reliability isn’t a tough conclusion to reach, but here’s some verifiable evidence from J.D. Power to put your mind at ease.
J.D. Power’s annual vehicle dependability study compares brands in the United States by reaching out to current car owners to discover how many problems their models have had. The 2025 study was released a few months ago, and contained data compiled from 34,175 original owners of 2022 model year vehicles after three years of ownership. That’s a decent sample size to calculate the number of problems per 100 vehicles.
When ranking every brand in order of the least problems per 100 vehicles (PP100), Toyota falls in fourth place with 162 PP100, and Hyundai twentieth place with 222 PP100. For reference, the study average is 202 PP100.
Hyundai And Toyota Sales Figures
Does Hyundai Even Come Close?
When asking purely about reliability, the answer to “is Hyundai as good as Toyota?” is no. That’s not the only reason people buy cars, though. Let’s see how the two brands stack up in terms of sales figures, and which model is the most popular from each manufacturer.
The truth of the matter is that Toyota is simply one of the most popular brands in the world, and it makes a huge impact in America. When looking at 2024 year-end data as reported from both brands, Toyota blows Hyundai out of the water. Hyundai is actually having a great time right now, with total annual sales reaching new heights for the fourth year in a row at 836,802 units sold in 2024 – a 4% increase compared to 2023. That’s good news for Hyundai, but Toyota managed to move 1,928,228 units (not including the 320,249 Lexus vehicles also sold in the same timeframe).
Toyota’s most popular car, the RAV4, also happened to be the most popular car in the United States last year, having taken the throne from the Ford F-Series pickup trucks after its 40-year-plus reign. In the US alone, Toyota moved 475,193 RAV4s, making it the most popular model by far. In comparison, the best-selling Hyundai was the Tucson, which sold a respectable 206,126 units.
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- Base Trim Engine
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2.5L Smartstream I4 ICE
- Base Trim Transmission
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8-speed automatic
- Base Trim Drivetrain
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Front-Wheel Drive
- Base Trim Horsepower
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187 HP @6100 RPM
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- Base Trim Engine
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2.5L Dynamic Force I4 ICE
- Base Trim Transmission
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8-speed automatic
- Base Trim Drivetrain
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Front-Wheel Drive
- Base Trim Horsepower
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203 HP @6600 RPM
Summary: Toyota’s Spot On The Podium Is Secure
Even Though Hyundai Is Doing Well For Itself
So, Toyota or Hyundai – which should you spend your money on? At the end of the day, the people overwhelmingly choose Toyota. It’s an easy decision when you step back and look at the whole picture. Toyota has been one of the most reliable and consistent brands for decades, and its cars are usually in an affordable price range. Hyundai has a unique lineup with some of the best EVs, and its cheapest model is a practical compact SUV that gets relatively good gas mileage. Toyota might sell more than double the volume as Hyundai, but some Hyundais are still worth a test drive.
Sources: Toyota, Hyundai, J.D. Power, GoodCarBadCar
