Yugo

Also known as Zastava Koral, Yugo GV

Lasted

about 28 years

1980 → November 2008

Cause of death: Killed by merger
Made by: Zastava Automobili

Fiat took over the Kragujevac plant and the Yugo line was cleared to make room for Punto production.

Built on a Fiat 128 platform and landed in America for under $5,000, the Yugo was cheap enough to sell 147,000 units there and bad enough to be voted worst car of the millennium by Car Talk. Zastava built roughly 794,000 across 28 years, making it Serbia's largest automotive export. The last one, a red Koral numbered 794,428, left Kragujevac in November 2008 with a handwritten note taped to the tailgate reading 'cao, nema vise', goodbye, no more, and the workers who built it were sent to prepare the floor for Fiat.

Standing in the archive

Rank 53 of 127 by lifespan. Yugo outlasted 59% of everything else on file.

Compare it with something

Cite this entry

"Yugo." How Long It Lasted, https://www.howlongitlasted.com/thing/yugo.

Died nearby

Burger Chefabout 38 years · killed by merger
Necco Wafersabout 171 years · killed by merger
Northwest Airlinesabout 84 years · killed by merger
Plymouthabout 73 years · killed by merger
Rdioabout 5 years · killed by merger

Sources

Last Yugo Will Roll Off The Assembly Line This Month — Jalopnik
End of the Road for the Yugo — Balkan Insight
End Of An Era As Last Yugo Car Rolls Off Production Line — RFE/RL

Last checked by a human on 24 July 2026