Overview

Not too much to compare here, I'm affraid. We're considering two fairly different vehicles in this case. For a start, they are not even classified under the same segment, with the Hyundai being a small family car and the FIAT representing city car vehicle class. Apart from that, different body styles uncover their separate purposes. The first one is a 4-door sedan meant for people who apreciate old fashion elegancy or even use it as a company car. The other one, a 5-door hatchback is mostly desired by those who use their car around city on regular basis, but still need some room for luggage.

Safety

The fact that the FIAT got tested by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), while the other contender didn't, puts it sky-high safety-wise, in my eyes at least. That aside, let's consider some other aspects which affect safety. The first vehicle is a small family car and that gives it a marginal advantage over the city car competitor, at least that's what statistics show. Furthermore, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, the Korean car offers a marginal difference of 3% more metal.

Reliability

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that both brands display similar results in faults and breakdowns, at least on all of the models level. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of Hyundai with an average rating of 4.5, and models under the FIAT badge with 4.3 out of 5. The same official information place Accent as average reliability-wise, and Punto Evo 7% above the first one. That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as the Korean car rank it on average as 4.0 out of 5, exactly the same as the other one.

Performance & Fuel economy

Hyundai is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.6 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 176 kilometers per hour, 4km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the Italian car, averaging around 3.6 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (78 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 28% difference compared to the Korean car.

Verdict

Hyundai appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, the Italian car beats the other contender by far, making it the best choice without even considering other things. From there things take a different direction, with Hyundai outracing its opponent in any situation possible, making it better choice for boy racers. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... All together, there's not much more to say, in this case I wouldn't even consider anything but FIAT. In any case that's my personal view, built upon all the data available to me. What should decide here though is the way you feel about the two vehicles, and I hope you'll find my guidelines useful in the process. I suggest you spend two more minutes in order to find out which car, based on your needs and budget, would be picked by the virtual adviser™, among thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.