The new car world gains more than it loses, even if it is at the price of individuality.

One of South Africa's most enduring cars has finally gone out of production after a 25-year run. The Volkswagen CitiGolf, darling of students, is essentially an evolution of the Golf Mk1, which first graced European showrooms in 1974.

When the original Giugiaro-styled Golf was phased out in 1983, production was transferred to South Africa the following year – using American Rabbit tooling – where it became the company's entry level model.

More than 500,000 CitiGolfs were subsequently produced at the South African assembly plant, but time finally caught up with the car as customers demanded safety equipment that Volkswagen was no longer able to offer. 

The number of motoring dinosaurs, such as the Paykan, Yugo, Tofas and Lada, has decreased hugely in recent years, as modern 'world cars' have been introduced in far-flung markets. The new car world gains more than it loses, even if it is at the price of individuality.