Yugo reloaded: The underdog brand from Serbia is set for a comeback

KRAGUJEVAC (Serbia): The humble Yugo from Serbia was ridiculed in its day as a poorly-designed bargain basement car with puny performance. Now it is set to bounce back as a retro-themed hatchback.

Professor Aleksandar Bjelic, an automotive supplier and economics teacher at the University of Belgrade, is the man behind the revival of a defunct marque that many will have forgotten.

Bjelic has secured the international trademark rights to the former Yugoslavian car brand, the US-based autopian.com car website reports.

The first renderings of the new Yugo have just been released, a scale model is set to be revealed this year and a full-scale, running prototype should be ready for the 2027 Belgrade Expo trade fair.

Serbian designer Darko Marceta has managed to retain the proportions and essence of the classic Yugo. The retro-futuristic styling hints at the Ioniq 5.

Overall, the small three-door hatchback shares plenty in common with the 45 - Yugo's most popular car of the 1980s.

The new Yugo is set to be equipped with a petrol engine to keep costs down and it will compete head on with models from Dacia, the Renault-owned brand from Romania which has captured a large chunk of the current market for cheap and cheerful cars.

Despite its shortcomings, the Yugo achieved cult status and went through several model changes, gaining more power and creature comforts along the way. Some were used as police cars.

The boxy runabout came out nearly 45 years ago, based on modified Fiat 128 technology and assembled in the Zastava plants here.

The Yugo was successful at home and proved to be an export hit, being sold in many foreign markets, including the United States.

Yugo stopped selling cars in Britain and other Western European countries in 1992, when the United Nations imposed trade sanctions on Serbia. Local sales continued until 2008.