The second and last generation of the Hyundai Excel was also known as Accent on several markets, and it came in a few body shapes.
The Excel/Accent sedan was the four-door version, and it aimed to compete against the fifth generation of the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla. While it couldn’t defeat the top-sellers models, it could gain enough momentum to open a door for the Accent lineup.

Hyundai was on the verge to upscale its models. It didn’t want to be the poor man car, and it definitely tried to play into the same league with the other Japanese carmakers. The rounded edges, curved door panels, and corner-mounted taillights didn’t show any original ideas, but the car’s overall look was decent for its time.

Inside, the Excel dropped the older, straight lines on the dashboard and adopted curves for the instrument cluster and door panels. The cranked windows were still used on most of the cars on the market, but the powered ones were on the options list. The air-conditioning unit was available at extra cost. The interior room was good for four, average-sized adults. Strangely though, the room in the front was not suitable for taller people, not to mention the rear-seat legroom.

Under the hood, Hyundai installed Mitsubishi-sourced engines of 1.3-liter and 1.6-liter. Later on, on specific markets, a 1.8-liter made its way inside the engine bay.