How Many Yugos Does It Take to…? The Former Joke Brand Making ComebackHow Many Yugos Does It Take to…? The Former Joke Brand Making Comeback
A Serbian battery-electric-vehicle startup is looking to rekindle the Yugo brand that became a joke in the U.S. and elsewhere for its lack of reliability and durability.

In a move few saw coming, the infamous Yugo brand is a target for resurrection in Europe.
Once a symbol of socialist-era pragmatism and the butt of automotive jokes across the U.S., the new Yugo aims to reclaim its “heritage” with an affordable, urban-focused electric car designed and engineered in Serbia, but with its sights set on a broader European revival.
The revival is being led by Serbian battery-electric-vehicle startup Elektromobilnost Balkanika, in partnership with former engineers and designers from Zastava, the state-owned automaker that originally produced the Yugo. The new model, unofficially called the Yugo Next, is expected to be a compact, 5-door BEV with a target price under €15,000 ($16,956) – making it one of the cheapest BEVs on the European market should production come to fruition.
"Yugo was always about basic, affordable transportation," company CEO Marko Vuković reportedly says at the unveiling in Kragujevac, the historic home of Zastava. "This is a return to that ideal, but reimagined for the electric era. The goal isn’t luxury or status – it’s access and independence."
The new Yugo is planned for launch in 2026, initially targeting Balkan and Eastern European markets before expanding westward.
The Next has a single front-mounted electric motor, with a 35-40-kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery targeting a range of 155-186 miles (250-300 km) with up to 50-kW DC fast-charging speed and 7-kW home charging speed. Target acceleration is 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) in 12 seconds with top speed of 87 mph (140 km/h).
A Brief, Infamous U.S. Adventure
Americans remember the Yugo mostly through the haze of late-night jokes and dubious Consumer Reports write-ups. Introduced in the U.S. in 1985 by entrepreneur Malcolm Bricklin, the Yugo GV (short for “Great Value”) was imported by Yugo America and marketed as the cheapest new car in the country, retailing for just under $4,000.
Made by Zastava Automobiles, the original Yugo was based on a license-built Fiat 127 and featured a modest 1.1L engine, spartan interior and minimal safety features. But it offered new-car ownership to many for the first time.
Despite selling over 140,000 units in the U.S. between 1985 and 1992, the Yugo quickly gained a reputation for poor quality, frequent breakdowns, and miserable crash performance. Car and Driver famously joked it came with “an optional glove box – if you didn’t want to carry your tools in the trunk.”
A combination of reliability issues, poor parts availability and the 1992 breakup of Yugoslavia led to the brand’s U.S. demise. Yugo America filed for bankruptcy in 1992, and the cars quickly faded from American roads – but not from pop culture.
The Yugo’s Roots in Europe
Before its American adventure, the Yugo was a serious attempt by Yugoslavia to develop a homegrown vehicle industry. Produced by Zastava in Kragujevac, Serbia (then Yugoslavia), the first Yugo 45 rolled off the line in 1978. The car was inexpensive, easy to repair (which it needed frequently), and well-suited to the needs of socialist-era consumers.
Throughout the 1980s and early ’90s, the Yugo was one of the most common cars in Yugoslavia and was exported to a dozen countries. While never a paragon of performance, it was a symbol of self-sufficiency and national pride.
Production limped along during the wars of the 1990s, but the factory suffered bomb damage during the 1999 NATO air strikes. Zastava later attempted a limited reboot, including a few Fiat-based models, but the original Yugo was discontinued in 2008.
Auto analyst Felix Hartmann of Munich-based AutoTrends Europe writes of the new era of Yugo: “If they deliver a reliable, low-cost EV, they could tap into real demand in Central and Eastern Europe, where price trumps brand image.” Yugo also has an advantage over other BEV start-ups with its name recognition, though that will cut both ways with some consumers.
There are early discussions of building an assembly plant in North Macedonia or Romania to support production. And while there's no immediate plan to reenter the U.S., Elektromobilnost Balkanika executives haven’t ruled it out.
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