The Mitsubishi Precis was a badge-engineered Hyundai Excel sold in the United States by Mitsubishi Motors from the spring of 1987. Mitsubishi chose to sell it to get around the voluntary import quota that applied to the Japanese-made Mirage.
Mitsubishi Precis at a glance
| Maker | Hyundai, sold by Mitsubishi in the United States |
|---|---|
| Production | 1987–1994 |
| Basis | Hyundai Excel, itself based on the second-generation Mirage |
| Bodies | three-door and five-door hatchback |
| Engine | 1.5-litre Mitsubishi four, 68 hp |
| Gearbox | four-speed manual, five-speed from 1988 |
| Badging | Precis on bootlid, grille, hubcaps and steering wheel |
| Mitsubishi mark | only a small imported-by sticker at the rear |
| RS model | added for 1988, dropped in 1991 |
| End | discontinued in 1994 |
Based on one source: the English Wikipedia article on the Hyundai Excel, which contains the only account of the Mitsubishi Precis. The photographs show an Excel of the same generation, because the cars were identical apart from badges.
History of the Mitsubishi Precis
Why a Hyundai with Mitsubishi badges
The Excel was Hyundai’s first front-wheel-drive car, based on the second-generation Mitsubishi Mirage but with its own sheet metal designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro. It came as a three- or five-door hatchback and a four-door sedan and was Hyundai’s first car exported to the United States, where it sold a record 168,882 units in its first year at $4,995.
Mitsubishi sold the same car in America from the spring of 1987 as the Precis, choosing a Korean-built model to avoid the voluntary import quota that limited Japanese-made cars such as the Mirage. The Precis came as a three-door in Base and LS form or a five-door LS, and used the same 68 hp 1.5-litre Mitsubishi four as the Excel, the Mirage and most of the Dodge and Plymouth Colts. It carried Precis badges on the bootlid, grille, hubcaps and steering wheel, and the only Mitsubishi logo was a small sticker at the rear reading Imported by Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America Inc.
Price leader
For 1988 the sporting RS model was added, bringing the five-speed manual that was also fitted to the LS. After Mirage production began in Normal, Illinois in 1989, which removed the quota problem, the facelifted 1990 Precis, equivalent to the Excel X2, stayed on sale in a reduced range as a price leader below the Mirage. It was then available only as a three-door hatchback, since no Precis sedan was ever offered, in Base or RS form.
The RS was discontinued for 1991, and with it the five-speed manual, although an RS trim package could still be ordered that year. A new grille appeared in 1993 and the Precis was withdrawn in 1994, after which Hyundai replaced the Excel with the Accent.
Design and features
- Quota workaround: a Korean-built car sold to avoid limits on Japanese imports.
- Giugiaro body: the Excel’s own sheet metal, based on the Mirage.
- Almost no Mitsubishi badges: only a small imported-by sticker at the rear.
- Hatchbacks only: three- and five-door, never a sedan.
- Short life: 1987 to 1994, then replaced by the Mirage range.
Mitsubishi Precis versions
- Base and LS: the original three-door and five-door cars.
- RS (1988): sporting model with a five-speed manual.
- 1990 price leader: three-door Base or RS only.
- 1993 update: a new grille before the end.
The Precis was a rebadged Mirage-based Hyundai, and it sat below the Mirage in the American range. More cars are in the Mitsubishi collection.
Sources
- Hyundai Excel, English Wikipedia: the Mitsubishi Precis section and the Excel’s origins
