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Some cool Mitsubishi Precis images:

Hyundai Genesis 3.8 and Mitsubishi Precis (US)


Image by skinnylawyer
The Genesis on the left is mine. To the right is a fairly beat-up 1990-91 Mitsubishi Precis.

For the US market, the Precis was Mitsubishi’s way of tapping into the popularity of the Hyundai Excel in the late 1980s, and to allow Hyundai to sell the Excel in communities that did not yet have Hyundai dealerships but did have Mitsubishi dealerships. It slotted right below Mitsubishi’s own compact car, the Mirage. And as the Excel had been designed and built using many Mitsubishi components, it was not too difficult for Mitsubishi to support the Precis. The Precis, although built at Hyundai’s main Ulsan assembly plant like any other Excel, was only sold in the US market.

(One interesting sidenote is that as the Precis was truly a bargain-basement car, Mitsubishi’s Japanese headquarters insisted that the Precis be labeled not with a standard "Mitsubishi" badge, but with a special "Imported by Mitsubishi Motors America" badge.)

The Precis was introduced in 1988, at the height of the Excel’s popularity in the US market. Mitsubishi continued to offer the Precis through 1993, even though Precis sales had trickled down to virtually nothing after 1989. Only the hatchback versions of the Excel were badge-engineered as the Precis; as the second-generation (X2) Excel did not offer a 5-door hatchback for the US market (it was offered elsewhere), the 1990 and later Precis could be had only as a 3-door hatchback.

Around the same time, a similar deal was being considered to allow the Hyundai Sonata to be sold as an Eagle, at Chrysler’s Jeep-Eagle dealerships, but it fell through as Sonata sales ended up painfully slow through the 1990s. Eagle already had the Summit (Mitsubishi Mirage) and a few oddball Renaults (Premier and Medallion), so the Sonata would have had a place in its lineup.

I’ve been looking for an opportunity for a family photo op for my Genesis next to an Excel, and finally I got it.

Bottom of the three diamonds


Image by Hugo90
Hyundai Excel was sold in the USA briefly by Mitsubishi dealers as their entry priced model.

Do you remember this one?


Image by Hugo90
Hyundai sold in USA as the bottom price Mitsubishi