In 1988, the Universals were designed to be more personalized than before. The basic structure was the same as before, based on the early 1970s Fiat. The cab was clearly more advanced than earlier. Some of the engines were new. The first updated models were 453, 533, 643, and 723. The transmissions in the new lineup included 8+2, 8+8, 12+3, or 16+4, some of which were fully synchronized.

In 1997, the improved Euroseries models were introduced. Improvements were made, for example, to the cab. However, overall development had stagnated despite the fact that Universal was privatized in 1990. New offerings only came with the 4-series in 2005. The first new models were 484, 524, and 684.

The Universals featured draft arm sensing starting with model 703. The 1033 had a 13” clutch, models 703, 733, and 833 had a 12” diameter, and the smaller ones had 11”. Four-wheel drive was implemented with a center axle and in later models there was an automatically operating front axle lock. Alongside these models, Universal also produced basic developing country versions 650M and 860, which in their home country were about 40% cheaper than models 643 and 833.

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