The Yugo Is Back! This Time It Is Taking On The GTI

If you were alive in the 1980s and living in the United States, you may have a vague recollection of a cheap car called the Yugo. Built by a company called Zastava in what was then known as Yugoslavia (now Serbia), this small hatchback, which started life as a Fiat 127, quickly earned a reputation as an automotive punching bag due to its poor design and reliability. In an event that we would never have on our 2025 bingo board, the Yugo is making a comeback.

 

Yugo first hinted at a revival earlier this year with a design sketch, and just took a baby step forward by showing off a scale model of what the new car could look like at Car Design Event 2025 in Munich, Germany. The small, two-door hatchback retains the boxy shape of the 1980s original, but modernizes it with LED headlights, sporty wheels, and even a red stripe that reminds us a lot of the Volkswagen Golf GTI.