Giddyup: Pony raced to record sales
Hyundai Motor’s Pony. [JoongAng Ilbo]
The Pony was also an iconic representative of Korea’s rapid economic growth, which not only surprised the world but also the country itself.
In the 1980s, as Korea vaulted toward industrialization, Ponys were as common on the streets here as people with the last name Kim. The car quickly became the vehicle of choice for everyday Joes and taxi drivers alike.
Many Koreans consider it the first true locally-developed car, though the Sibal came out decades earlier.
While the Sibal was designed by a foreign company based on a pre-existing model, Hyundai Motor commissioned the Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro to come up with a car specifically for the Korean marketplace.
The Pony carries with it a huge amount of nostalgia in Korea. Some merchants even use it today to sell items and trinkets from the 1970s and 1980s on the street.
The vehicle was first introduced during the Turin Motor Show in 1974 as a concept car by Giugiaro, who also was behind the famous DeLorean. In fact, the concept design of the original Pony looks very similar to the DeLorean, which was released later.
The first Pony can’t really be described as a passenger vehicle, as its initial design resembled more of a coupe. Additionally, the first model that rolled off the production line looked similar to a hatchback.
The Korean automaker started manufacturing the vehicle from its plant in December 1975 and sold 10,726 units the following year, rapidly boosting Hyundai Motor’s market share here to 43.6 percent.
The first Pony was a four-door sedan with a four-cylinder, 1,238 cc Mitsubishi engine. Soon, the automaker rolled out different versions of the Pony, including a hatchback, wagon and a pickup. It also boosted engine displacement to 1,439 cc.
After the vehicle gained a following here, the Korean automaker started to look toward the overseas market. In July 1976, Hyundai Motor made its first overseas export, shipping just five units to Ecuador.
It then started expanding to other regions including Colombia, Egypt, Belgium and Greece.
It wasn’t easy tapping into new markets in the beginning. The Pony pickup, which was developed for export to the Middle East, often suffered breakdowns and other problems, including the melting of its artificial leather seats.
Still, the company continued to see enormous success at home. In 1982, Hyundai Motor released the Pony II, which wound up being even more popular than its predecessor and captured a 60 percent share of the local market.
Between 1982 and 1990, a total of 359,007 Pony IIs were sold. The company also managed to make more traction in the overseas market, as 151,786 of that total were exported.
By Lee Ho-jeong [ojlee82@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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