Just over three decades ago, Hyundai brought a new car to the world: the Elantra. The Korean company pitted their new compact sedan against the likes of the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, and Ford Focus. It also had a little help from Mitsubishi, who designed the 1.6-liter inline-four for the first-gen Elantra.
The U.S. market first received the new Elantra in 1991, with almost 3,900 finding new homes off the lot. Back then, Hyundai was the one waiting for the come-up, still working through its quality issues like many of its Japanese competitors had decades before. It wouldn\’t be until 1999, near the end of the sedan\’s second generation, when the car would really begin to hit its stride with buyers; 83,292 copies went out the door, compared to the first sales peak of 45,056 in 1994.
Today, the Elantra is in its seventh and current iteration. No longer is it the staid little sedan it was at the start of the Nineties. Instead, it is a sharp (especially with its parametric design language, featuring plenty of triangles) four-door machine ready for the New \’20s.
Let\’s see how ready it is with a ride in its top form, the 2021 Hyundai Elantra Limited.