Sir George Turnbull creator of the Hyundai Pony

Sir George Turnbull creating the first Korean car, the Hyundai Pony. Tom Mangold for BBC Panorama.

[@sonyk365]

I’m citizen of Ulsan, Korea, and my current job is reliability test engineering for automotive parts of Hyundai. I’m thank to Mr.Turnbull for his heritage. He brought many manufacturing and engineering technology to us. I’m impressed that earlier Hyundai factory is quite premitive that workers carries body panels by hand, hammering and welding bodywork. It’s so contrary to current YeomPoDong factory. I also thank to seniors who built this factory and city. Now I’m living my life on this industrial foundation. It was good time to see old scenery of Ulsan and many fathers young times.

[@M.S-Music]

I´m from Europe and drive a 2018 Hyundai i20(GB). I´v had it since new and it has been 100% reliable for the past 6 years, very good and comfy well built car.

[@garywho1988]

Ironically, In 2016 there is no british automobile company while Korea has Hyundai which is 6th biggest car manufacturer in the world. Sir George Turnbull made correct decision.

[@ytn00b3]

HMC which includes Hyundai Motor and KIA, and other automobile business is now 3rd largest in the world.

[@edwardkim8972]

He tried doing the same thing in Iran. Didn't work out as well.

[@user-mt6xu4dk7t]

Cuz british dishes so suck

[@mervynstent1578]

And BL made the wrong decision

[@thepeters75]

Early teacher of Korean Car industry. He developed Pony and we watching Ioniq5, descendent of Pony

[@andrewashmore8000]

exactly well said.

[@Euroduplex]

@olo At the beginning of the company's history, they started with licence-manufacturing Ford Cortina and Granada, which are UK Ford models. A bit of a connection there.

[@edwardkim8972]

@Doramutong Korea's ship building industry also owes a debt of gratitude to a couple of Scottish engineers. I think Hyundai tried to look them up to give them an award, but couldn't find them.

[@andreweverett7497]

It's worth mentioning that Hyundai had already been building the Ford Cortina under licence since 1966/7 so they were not new to this game. They built Cortinas until 1982/3 and the 1983 Hyundai Stellar was a rebodied Cortina Mark 5 with a Mitsubishi engine. Still a huge achievement however.

[@AKADriver]

Funny that before Hyundai ever sold a car in the UK under that name, the BBC reporter had already chosen the ridiculous "high-un-die" pronunciation of Hyundai while Turnbull pronounces it correctly repeatedly in the interview.

[@RoadCone411]

Hyundai workers don't complain and work in challenging conditions with unrealistic deadlines. The UK workers didn't even know how good they had it at the time! I guess the Koreans just wanted to be successful more than BL did, and that's why they are here and the UK car industry (well, UK-owned carmakers) are basically reduced to building hand-built vehicles out of small garages. Sir George was The Man! A very good video illustrating the talents of a man who helped build the Korean car industry. Too bad he couldn't have saved BL or Talbot later in his career...his death at 66 was too young.

[@megashae468]

It is very unfortunate that the korean car industry is beginning to resemble BL’s last years. The workforce is overpaid and prone to strikes, and the companies keep trying to go abroad and pay foreign workers rather than pay their own and have management be a hassle. And the fact that unions get to control who is employed at the car factories is ridiculous. The spirit in video is long gone.

[@saxongreen78]

Yep...the ingrained 'nah mate - too hard' attitude of Britain at that time was very sad - but so was the 'selfless' attitude of Korea. Some kind of happy medium might be a nice change.

[@Odyss2023]

I never knew that Hyundai's Ponys had British bloodline in them. Thank you British teachers.

[@charishraju]

I grew up in Calcutta in the 80s...close to a Jetty in the Calcutta Port Trust property leased to the Nepalese Government...I used to watch hundreds of then relatively then unknown Hyundai Ponies being transported by road to Nepal and gradually this trickle eventually became a flood..While India still made antiquated British Cars under license... Hyundai came to India by setting up a factory in Chennai (Madras) in 1998 and today Hyundai Kia is the 2nd largest car manufacturing company behind Suzuki in the world’s 4 th largest car market...

[@thewondergamerluckyroyal7790]

And santro is their first car..

[@_Ben4810]

Somewhere in South Korea, deep in a Hyundai Industries archive warehouse, probably in a long-forgotten packing crate, is one or perhaps both of those original imported Marina cars...! 😉

[@ponysoftonline4533]

Now the owner of an 86' Hyudai Excel and Until now I never knew just how cool Hyudai really is

[@milenkadiaza.5201]

Hyundai Pony's home: United Kingdom🇬🇧

[@peterj.cressman165]

It's HYUNDAI....not Hyudai

[@rjft7003]

50 years after Hyundai is going strong offering a wide variety of vehicles all over the world and with a growing reputation of reliability. US and European car industry are by now a handful of conglomerates still more focused in providing the best service and reliability during the warranty - after that they leave their customers with an expensive lemon...

[@edwardkim8972]

Yes. This is Sir, George Turnbull's legacy.

[@ceosealemon]

Korea's automobile industry and shipbuilding industry are leading the global market thanks to the UK's financial support and dispatch of technicians. Thank you very much.

[@MrKinamyun]

정주영 동생 헤어스타일 끝내주네. 겁나 surreal하구만.

[@edwardkim8972]

Turnbull doing the 고사 gosa ceremony at 2:47 like a native. What a trooper. What an international citizen. I bet if he lead a battalion of colonial commonwealth soldiers in the 19th century they would have followed him to the gates of Hell and back. Props, sir.

[@mereprofilekaaaadmibehench6009]

Damn you doggy eaters called this a ceremony A dog head 😖 yuck

[@user-mt6xu4dk7t]

영국 기사라 그런가 우리나라로 치면 양반인데 양반답게 잔도 잘돌리네요. 절도 잘하고.

[@PAARYNAKAKKU-ic3td]

I LIKED HYUNDAI PONY AFTER 1981 AND ITS SECOND GENERATION

[@MoneGetsIt]

Near the end of this, at the party, George says basically that Hyundai needs to sell cars high in Korea so they can sell for lower in other countries. It is funny that I saw this moment because it is still true. A Hyundai costs a crap load more in Korea than in America.

[@SA-gs9lv]

That's because for today hyundai is the only one in korean car industry. kia failed,daewoo failed,ssangyong still looking...

[@forgotmyusername2]

I think it's a bit of an overstatement to say kia failed

[@megashae468]

KorEire they failed in the 90’s and was purchased by hyundai. From the early 2000’s up to very recently, kia was basically a shittier hyundai in a different body to market to young people.

[@forgotmyusername2]

@@megashae468 well from a general perspective I would agree with you (again general understanding of the brand) it is well known that hyundai is a major power house now which could make Kia to be seen as a shittier company but don't let that shadow kias reputation because they're still a pretty reputable company in comparison to other brands

[@Euroduplex]

Look at the pricing chart of Genesis models in Korea and then look at how much they cost in the U.S. They are not that different, and they even don't give discounts for certain new models (GV80, especially). Those days of 'pricing high in Domestic, dump in foreign' are long gone for good.

[@eatonjask]

The side profile makes it so clear that the Point is just a four door Marina with the two door Marina roofline!

[@user-qc8jw6vh2b]

Think only Koreans are typing the comments via Namuwiki hahahahahahahaha

[@bessie2275]

I was very fortunate to live in Ulsan for three years and visit the car plant.

[@incyphe]

love all the salutes! that's the fighting spirit!

[@PAARYNAKAKKU-ic3td]

I WOULD LOVE TO PAINT HYUNDAI PONYS

[@sutherlandA1]

From little things big things grow while the once mighty descends into kaos. They're basically following the japanese lead they're just 20 years behind, japan needed to recover their shattered economy by industrialization and to build a reputation for quality via manufacturing, now the koreans have fully developed it looks like the Chinese are following behind. Now as for automotive decline the american big 3 are about 20 years behind the Brits

[@hehunches]

I'm slamming down on this zillion year old post to say Yo! my first nearly new car was a Hyundia Pony, it was super underpowered, but the 5 speed trans made compensating for the shit motor slightly drivable, and you had to LEARN to drive to get anything out of the crappy crappy motor, which I did, and for a shitty underpowered motor, I sure revved the flying shit crap frick frack out of it, and it never blew a gasket or siezed up. Some asshole front ended me in it that was the end of my pony,. great handling, imo fun to drive, needed nitrous fs

[@andrewashmore8000]

im here beceause of ioniq 5 electric car , and enjoying great video.

[@ddg-9935]

Thanks guys.

[@thomasdonald3291]

As much as I was loyal to British cars, the writing was on the wall even in to early 70s. Complacency and failure to adapt to changing markets were all nails in the coffins for British cars

[@CircuitBoardcokr]

Obviously, Current south korean economic development was driven by its own citizens. But without help of masters like Chartered Engineer Sir George, the speed of development had been much slower than now. they worked like masterclass.

[@jamesstuart3346]

Great doc. Part BBC, part Monty P. 😂

[@user-mt6xu4dk7t]

요정에서 여자가 옆에 있는 와중에도 일에 전념하는 당신은 진짜 머단하다

[@rnb250]

George gets credit for the Pony but no blame for the Marina! 😂

[@_Ben4810]

That's no way to talk about Sir George Trunnion....! 😉

[@bluedick321]

The marina was a commercial success.

[@eatonjask]

In fact, the Pony is based heavily on the Marina, and shows what the Marina could have been!

[@djfoadkodfj]

Pony is made by HYUNDAI ,KOREA . the music in 2:45 - 3:26 is not korean music but japaness music . the same as America is not England.

[@notsecure]

You are correct sir! Sharp hearing.

[@radhaluckykiran6668]

Wrong vocabulary dude..Pony was made by Hyundai..Not is made, because it was discontinued a long back ago..

[@MultiGood2]

2:45 The bgm is Shamisen

[@TheIceland2000]

British cars and German Uboots, Sir Karl Doenitz, ;)

[@socksumi]

Thanks George for leaving me stranded on the road on a regular basis.

[@mescko]

George saw the writing on the wall, knew that BL would ultimately collapse under its own weight, and got out while he could.

[@savagerand3921]

무려 45년전영상

[@AS-pu5wv]

That's my father Peter Slater. He just died this year.

[@user-yi7ez6lf4z]

7:36

[@benjaminbarriacid2919]

Love pony

[@mervynstent1578]

George Turdbull saved the former Chrysler UK Talbot operation when Peugeot was looking to closing it down! But he gets the blame for closing Linwood

[@luigiminwoolee]

18:30 POH! NEE!

[@mattfinleylive]

Those hills really DO look like those from L.A. and M*A*S*H !!

[@tomkeitel5728]

Pony

[@mrrolandlawrence]

lol, what ever happened to the korean car industry? oh yeh it did quite well. they should have let lord stokes go instead of this man. bloody class in the way again in the uk. indeed the mini crippled BL. no care given to construction and a gearbox designed in a weekend for a lifetime of problems. they didn't even check if it was waterproof. also thats some great karaoke 23:45 ;)

[@user-so3pv8uh9u]

18:16

[@iAMdaREALstig]

Robert, are you George Turnbull's son?

[@iAMdaREALstig]

I'm asking because I am related to you and am interested in finding out more

[@captlazer5509]

This is the guy responsible for Hyundai Pony. Drove a 1984 Pony with a tire burning 74 hp. Really a crap car that was horribly under powered to the point of being dangerous to drive. Hyundai has come a long way.

[@kyungjaemin]

why are they playing Japanese music?

[@forgotmyusername2]

Because I'm guessing the producer of music at the time didn't know the difference

[@edwardkim8972]

@ 14:35.... hahaha.... they have heating now! Rome wasn't built in a day and neither is a car industry!

[@notsecure]

History repeats! Now Chinese are building Tesla in the factory that was built in record speed and efficiency.

[@_Ben4810]

Yeah, but we all know how the Chinese construction industry works...There's a reason why those factories are built in record time... Go ask the poor workforce, go check the accident report book, see how the construction company managers & clients representatives can all afford to spend their kickbacks ca$h holidaying at Disney World, go check the leaking factory during the first shower of rain & inspect the very same rapidly deteriorating building needing massive remedial works after 5 years.....

[@rodferguson3515]

Arrogance and complacency is what hurt the British car industry.. the same thing is happening to the American car industry are arrogance complacency and false or fake exceptionalism.

[@team3383]

10:40 - Why couldn't you get the gap so close for the Marina ? ANSWER: Well time has passed. You learn from experience. TRANSLATION: I DIDN'T GIVE A TOSS IN THE UK FOR OUR CLIENT's WISHES. I WAS TAKING THE MONEY AS LONG AS IT LASTED AND GOT AWAY WITH IT.

[@sutherlandA1]

Also having brand new expensive state of the art equipment at your disposal compared to the WW2 surplus worn out outdated junk the british were using, ironic considering BL made and sold it

[@team3383]

@@sutherlandA1 In Korea they had to answer to a Management who made them WORK for their money. Not just turn up and have a lady make a cup of tea for them. The Koreans CARE about their clients.

[@andreweverett7497]

@@sutherlandA1 IS THE CORRECT ANSWER! BL did the best they could with the Marina but BL was already a lost cause.