Hyundai's first foray into the WRC predated the current in-house structure. In 1998 and 1999, the Hyundai Motor Sport division competed in the 2-litre World Rally Cup, the entry run by British company Motor Sport Development (MSD) under team principal David Whitehead. During this period MSD simultaneously developed the Accent WRC, a full World Rally Car based on the Hyundai Accent, which was unveiled in September 1999.
The Accent WRC debuted at the 2000 Swedish Rally. The team's best early result came in New Zealand where Kenneth Eriksson finished fifth, and in Australia where he finished fourth. For 2002, Hyundai recruited four-time world champion Juha Kankkunen alongside Freddy Loix and Armin Schwarz. Kankkunen's fifth place in New Zealand was the team's season high. Despite budget constraints in 2003, Hyundai edged out Skoda and Mitsubishi in the battle for fourth in the manufacturers' standings. After the 2003 season, Hyundai withdrew and announced plans to form an in-house operation before returning.
At the 2012 Paris Motor Show, Hyundai announced a return to the WRC for the 2014 season using the i20 WRC. Hyundai Motorsport GmbH was formally established in December 2012 in Alzenau. Thierry Neuville was named lead driver and scored the team's first ever WRC victory at the 2014 Rallye Deutschland.
The team made steady progress. Paddon took the team's first win with the new-generation i20 WRC at the 2016 Rally Argentina. Neuville added wins and finished runner-up in the drivers' championship in 2016 and 2017, both times behind Sébastien Ogier. The team also finished second in the manufacturers' standings in each of those years.
With Sébastien Loeb joining the lineup alongside Neuville, Mikkelsen, and Sordo for 2019, Hyundai focused its efforts on the manufacturers' title. The team sealed the 2019 Manufacturers' Championship after Rally Catalunya. It successfully defended the title in 2020, making Hyundai the only manufacturer to win back-to-back WRC manufacturers' championships in that era.
Thierry Neuville has been the team's lead driver since its 2014 return and ultimately won the 2024 WRC drivers' championship with the team — Hyundai's first drivers' title. Ott Tanak, who had previously won the 2019 drivers' title with Toyota, joined Hyundai for 2020 and contributed to that year's manufacturers' championship before returning to M-Sport and then re-signing with Hyundai. Dani Sordo, Hayden Paddon, Andreas Mikkelsen, and Craig Breen have all contributed victories and podiums during the team's modern era.
Hyundai's return to the WRC represents one of the most successful manufacturer re-entries in the championship's history. From a first podium in 2014 to back-to-back manufacturers' titles in 2019 and 2020, the team established itself as a consistent rival to Citroën, Volkswagen, M-Sport Ford, and Toyota. Its Alzenau-based operation has grown into one of the best-resourced and most technically competitive factory programmes in the WRC.