Skoda trumps European rivals in Top Gear magazine poll

Have you heard the one about the Skoda which beat all of Europe's best-known car manufacturers in a readers' survey? You have now - and it's not a joke.

The days when Skoda was the laughing stock of the car world are well and truly over and Skoda's reputation in Britain - one of Europe's biggest car markets - is going from strength to strength.

A recent survey carried out by Britain's foremost Top Gear magazine, a spin-off of the BBC's Top Gear programme, asked 76,000 motorists to rate 159 cars, taking into consideration reliability, driving experience, dealer service and cost. They described it as the UK's "biggest car satisfaction survey", and in that survey Skoda did extremely well. Only three European cars appeared in the top ten, and they were all Skoda. The Superb came fourth, the Octavia fifth and the Fabia ninth. All the others were Japanese models.

And, what's more, Skoda beat all its European rivals hands down.

Skoda Auto has been a subsidiary of Volkswagen since 1994 so these results are as much a tribute to German engineering and technology as anything else. But the cars are made by Czech workers in Czech factories with Czech managers, and Skoda still is very much associated with the Czech Republic.

Skoda brand director Chris Craft said: "We're very pleased with the results of the Top Gear survey, and happy that our customers are so pleased with their cars. We're not entirely surprised, though, because we know that our cars are well-designed, engineered and built by our Skoda colleagues in the Czech Republic and the service our retailers provide is second to none."

Skoda continues to be the mainstream brand of choice for customers looking for outstanding products that are great to drive and easy to own, as this survey and others have shown year after year. Skoda's "extra bit of car" is definitely found in the design and engineering of its cars, and extends all the way through the purchase and ownership experience.

This recognition comes on top of many recent accolades for all the product range including the What Car?' Family Car of Year 2005 award for the new Octavia.

This repositioning of the Skoda brand in such a highly competitive market is a tribute to the Czechs and a rare event in today's car industry.