It was a robust companion, an export success, and it will always put a big smile on your face: The Zastava Yugo, the Eastern European bargain-basement car that has advanced to cult status. The angular subcompact was launched on its home market almost 45 years ago, based on Fiat technology and assembled in the Zastava factory in Kragujevac. It was a hit on the domestic market and was subsequently exported, where it earned quite a bit of respect.
As readers of this site undoubtedly know, the Yugo even made it to the USA, and with a launch price of just $3,990 it significantly undercut all other cars on the market. There was a nicely designed convertible, and Zastava kept working on derivatives — though most of them never made it to dealers. The export success came to an abrupt end with the Yugoslavia War, but production eventually resumed. Two major facelifts followed, and though it left the U.S. market in 1992 the small car remained in production until 2008.
Throughout its production life, the Yugo was a symbol of basic mobility, but in recent years, it has become an icon of pop culture. There are books and screen appearances, one of them has been floating around Brooklyn — everyone recognizes the Yugo. Even in its home of the Balkans, its nostalgic transfiguration has set in.
Now there are plans for it to make a comeback, but as an entirely new vehicle. The first sketches of the new Yugo have just been released, a scale model is set to be unveiled this year, and you should mark the 2027 Belgrade Expo to see the full-scale, running prototype.
The project is the brainchild of Prof. Dr. Aleksandar Bjelić , a well-known name in the German automotive and supplier industry. He has secured the trademark rights internationally. Bjelić has been working in high-level marketing positions for almost two decades; an engineer and economist, he taught at the college in Aalen near Stuttgart and teaches economics at the University of Belgrade.
Initial funding for brand rights, concept and design is handled by himself, but we suspect development and investment partners are welcome.
Serbian designer Darko Marčeta is responsible for the design. With his first renderings, Marčeta has perfectly captured the proportions and essence of the classic Yugo; the retro-futuristic style is somewhat reminiscent of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the N74 concept.
But unlike those Korean cars, the Next Yugo will be positioned as an affordable entry-level car. The technical basis will be an established platform from a cooperation partner that Bjelić does not want to disclose yet. The car will meet all emissions and safety regulations, and it will be positioned at the lower end of the market, just like the initial Yugo.
While a fully electric version is conceivable, plans are for the new Yugo to be launched with combustion engines. That will keep it affordable and fun, while setting the new Yugo apart from other retro projects such as the new Renault 5 or the VW ID.Buzz.
Obviously, 2027 is a long time away, so next year Bjelić will launch a rally from Kragujevac across Africa to Mt. Kilimanjaro; it will be a rerun of a legendary expedition, conducted in 1975 with five Zastava 101 models, the predecessor of the Yugo.
This time, five classic Yugos will be brave the desert slopes, technically prepared specifically for the event. The drive is supposed to demonstrate the robustness of the original Yugo – and, more importantly, whet your appetite for the new model.
Obviously, these are just plans and there’s plenty of work between now and it becoming a reality. Still, I’ve always liked the Yugo (but then, one of my daily drivers is a Lada Niva). In an alternative timeline, the original Yugo could have replaced the Fiat 127/147. In a world of portly and expensive new EVs, filled to the brim with nanny systems and massive screens, I think a cheap and fun car like the new Yugo might be exactly what the world needs.
If record albums, flip phones, and film cameras can make a comeback, why not a Yugo?
Does anyone know about OKA auto? In the late 90s early 00s someone talked about importing them. Do you know what happened?
This rendering looks good because one person designed it. Wait until the committee tweaks it. Seriously charming as presented.
Honey, I shrunk the Ioniq 5?
I’m here for the cheap car from Mexico:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F02P2JO7yfc
I’ll take one. Especially if they can get Samuel L. Jackson to put a gold bar in the back seat.
The concept drawings look amazing save for the very high belt line. I’d increase window area.
Could this be my next cheap commuter?
If this winds up being a decent platform a la Neon I’m gonna be hyped
It looks similar to a Dacia spring with more style to me. Perhaps importing Chinese components to an eastern European factory will produce a ok car for an ok price. It seems like EVs are going to kei car route 4 door box maybe egg shaped for efficiency. Tiny cars bring alot of people joy and seem the natural good ev.
I somehow feel that like, Yugo, would work as a rebranded, generic “NEW ENERGY VEHICLE” from China.
They’ll put any logo on a generic POS.
If / after they fail to get capital and build it. The person or company that by the IP will for sure do this. Wuling mini with a weird front end now yugo
Needs stilts to have a chance. A smallish hatch on stilts, aka CUV, with AWD and decent fuel economy would print money.
I grew up in Detroit and one local Caddy dealer was giving away a FREE Yugo when you bought one of their land yachts. Man those were the days!
I believe that a Mitsubishi dealer used to do this. If you bought one of their SUVs, they’d throw in a mirage for free. Can’t remember which dealer though.
Looks like an Ioniq 5 to me
So Dodge and Yugo teamed up to badge engineer the pos Hornet?
Fool me once…
Considering how everyone is pretty much maxed out financially and starting to get irritated with in-car tech, I recon this thing could have a chance! Granted, I’m not sure how well it’s going to slide on nostalgia though. With Fiat and Mini, they can play with a little bit of spunky charm in their history. While lots of people talked trash back in the day, there were also lots of people who actively enjoyed their Fiats and Minis. Trying to find people outside of the eastern bloc (and probably within) who actively enjoyed their original Yugo is a bit more difficult. It’s retro, sure, but it will need to find the fun and charm that it never really had in the first place.
A lot of what’s going on right now actually feels similar to the market conditions in the mid 1980s that allowed for Yugo of America to get off the ground in the first place. Higher interest rates, Japanese and American automakers pushing upmarket away from entry level niches, feature bloat in the form of option packages making it harder to order cheaper versions, growing customer dissatisfaction of higher prices
I cannot wait to see these in 15 years pitted against a Mitsubishi Mirage in some Top Gear Challenge reboot. In all seriousness if you’re looking for a good read check out Jason Vuic’s book on the history of the Yugo. Fun, fast, and interesting for the typical Autopian.
More like YouTuber challenge. I’ll be here for it!
Will it have a standard window defroster to keep your hands warm while you push it?
Will the dealerships be at the top of hills so you can’t bring it back?
Will you be able to double the resale value by topping off the tank?
Will you ask for a set of wipers for your Yugo and be told, “Sure, that’s a fair trade?”
Does your insurance total the car if you get a flat tire?
The only way I see this coming back as a truly cheap/basic car is with the help of state sponsorship/funding… just like the original.
If it’s left to private companies, they will cynically use the nostaglia to boost the price and profit margins.
That’s what happened with VW and the ‘New Beetle’. And that’s the case with the “ID Buzz”. That also has been the case with the BMW Mini and the new incarnations of the Fiat 500.
Also about the concept drawings… like so many concept drawings I see, the wheels are too big and the tire sidewalls are too small. Yet another designer that is taking the lazy approach to making their design look interesting.
Hey, to the 500’s credit, it was genuinely a reasonably priced car (launched at base price $16k CAD, which is less than my base Mazda2 was), at least so long as you avoided too many options or special editions. Small, cramped, and kind of unreliable, but not excessively priced.
For that matter, the new Renault 4 and 5 seem pretty modestly priced, at least by the standards of small EV’s.
“Launched” and “Yugo” conjure up different memories in Michigan:
“On Sept. 22, 1989, a Yugo compact car went over the railing. A police report of the incident estimated that the vehicle was traveling at more than 60 mph. While wind could have been a contributing factor, it did not blow the vehicle off the bridge.”
So says the Mackinac Bridge Authority. A Bronco also went off in ’97 but that was on purpose (a suicide) where the Yugo supposedly wasn’t. Although one could argue that doing 60 MPH in a Yugo on a windy bridge might be suicide.
“Later investigation showed the driver lost control due to excessive speed and her vehicle bumped the bridge’s 4-inch-high median and then crossed back through the northbound lanes, hitting a curb, jumping an outer guardrail and falling off the bridge”
I’m also pretty sure the bridge had guardrails that were too short and out of spec.
Suicide by crap.
The new Yugo will be perfect for students needing a cheap base for art projects around 2037, just like the first Yugos. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2U6ztoln4w
I remember that. The piano one in particular stood out as a kid.
i am not sure how many are nostalgic enough to go for one of these. Certainly the drawings look pretty decent in a Golf GTi kind of way, but even hot hatches are pretty much gone for most Americans.
Yugo would struggle mightily to get all the New Traffic Safety crap into one cheaply and also make sure it all works.
I suppose if Stellantis could allow them to take the 500X with both the hybrid and NA drivetrains then Yugo could perhaps rebody it and make an attempt at seriously re-entering this market, but I would be surprised if they could do it.
It looks like a 2 door hot hatch, even if it’s on the slower side it could be fun with a manual and decent handling.
So it’s basically an Eastern-European two-door Rivian R3 with hockey-stick headlamps?
I think I’d rather just have a two-door Rivian R3.
I doubt that any 2-door Rivian R3 sold for that price will be in operating condition.
If I had to guess, the pesky war was a merciful end to the Yugo here in the US. Unlike the Koreans that had money backing and an actual desire to improve, the Yugo would have eventually run it course and people would have had enough. Yeah, it’s cheap, but you can only eat so many shit sandwiches before you can’t take another one.
“Yeah, it’s cheap, but you can only eat so many shit sandwiches before you can’t take another one.”
The American RV industry proves Americans are perfectly willing to throw down insane amounts of money for absolute garbage year after year after year so why not on this too? They might whine and grumble but they still keep bending over for big RV.
Besides those RV buyers need SOMETHING smaller and comparatively fuel efficient to pull behind those RVs amIrite? What better to compliment a shitty RV than a cheap, shitty Yugo?
“ but you can only eat so many shit sandwiches before you can’t take another one.”
I have this freshly made shit sandwich here for you… do you want it? It’s CHEAP! Half the price of the cheapest hamburger! It even comes with a slice of processed cheese! How can you resist?
With bacon?
Absolutely!
Applewood smoked?
“Applewood smoked?”
Is there any other kind?
Definitely lining up for the cheese alone. Hope it’s the presliced processed cheese and not the spreadable kind.
Also I thought I saw a mouthwatering thick fender to c pillar door moulding in the last concept photo, the red example above.
Yugo of America had gone bankrupt and was bailed out by the Yugoslavian government, they were rolling out improvements to interior trim, paint finish, equipment levels, and had just barely introduced an automatic transmission option, with fuel injection to follow. There were serious plans to try and update and improve the car for the 1990s that would have made them at least somewhat better than the earlier examples
I also believed Zastava was working on the Florida (model,) which would’ve been more upscale.
We definitely would have gotten the Florida, it had already launched in Yugoslavia in 1988 and was developed with the US in mind, was an all-new design with Italdesign styling. By that point, Malcolm Bricklin was starting to feel that Zastava’s wholesale pricing was leaving too little profit margin, so he used stalling tactics on the Florida while pursing alternate options with Dacia and Proton. Once he was out of the picture and the Yugoslavians were in control, a US launch of the Florida was very much on the table, they just ran out of time.
Bricklin was so far along on the Proton that five U.S.-spec examples were built and they had achieved certification. I actually have a Proton USA launch press kit that I found on eBay a few years ago.
The 1990 and 1991 models imported to the U.S. had fuel injection and a five-speed transmission. I have one. By all accounts it was a much improved car but the rep was so bad at that point. It didn’t matter because the war made production very difficult.
Just as the Spider-verse foretold…