Yugo, the Slovenian... Wait — the brief says Slovakian (eslovaca). Translating faithfully: <<>> Yugo, the Slovakian brand, is rising from the ashes with a small city car that could soon reach the European market

You may not remember the brand Yugo. It was a brand that enjoyed a certain run in the Balkan countries and even the United States, and that disappeared several years ago. Although it is now based in Slovakia, it originated in Yugoslavia, hence its name. Now, a university professor has acquired the rights to the brand name and has announced that he will bring the brand back to life.

Yugo became popular for making small, very inexpensive city cars, so its new life will bring these urban models back and adapt them to the demands the industry faces today. For now, there is not even a prototype to start imagining what this new model will look like, but a detailed scale model has been presented of what they have planned.

The inspiration for this model is the Yugo 45, an earlier model from the brand. The scale model shows an image very close to that car, although logically its design has been updated to bring it closer to what one can expect from a car of this type in 2025. For now this model has no name, and we are waiting for it to be christened.

Although there is no data on what this new Yugo may offer, the company has announced that it already has a platform prepared to serve as the base on which to build the vehicle. It is a platform supplied by an associate manufacturer, whose name is not known.

The scale model presents a three-door compact car with a clear urban vocation. It is expected to have a small engine, in keeping with its vocation as a city vehicle, and will feature an automatic gearbox and a manual gearbox, which will lower the price of the car and allow it to offer a traditional driving experience.

The Yugo announcement confirms combustion engines and does not rule out an electric version. Something it will almost be forced to do if it wants to enter the European market, where traditional engines have a limited number of years left. If the project goes ahead, which seems quite likely, it could become a serious rival to established models such as the Dacia Sandero.