South Korea's subcompact shattered sales records for a first-year import when it arrived on the American market in 1986. A 2-door hatchback soon joined the original 4-door sedan and 4-door hatchback. Built on the same platform as the Mitsubishi Mirage and Dodge/Plymouth Colt, the Excel also shared their 1.5-liter engine, transmissions, and some suspension parts. For 1990, Excel and the similar Mitsubishi Precis got new styling, akin to the bigger Hyundai Sonata but only a little larger than before. The engine adopted sequential fuel injection, and a new 4-speed automatic transmission became available. Models included a base 2-door hatchback and 2-door sedan, GS 3-door hatchback, GL 4-door sedan and 4-door hatchback, and GLS 4-door sedan.