Premiered at the Geneva Motor Show in March, the bigger and better new Fabia beat off rivals in the highly competitive super-mini segment to be awarded the prestigious title by the judging panel.

Presenting the award, Stephen Park, President of the Association of Scottish Motoring Writers, said: "Sales of super-minis continue to soar and the latest generation provide drivers with the sort of features once reserved for much bigger cars. Our Scottish Small Car of the Year is an evolution of a vehicle which played a huge part in turning around the fortunes of a manufacturer.  Now with more presence, more equipment and more space, the name may be the same but the judging panel reckon this quality hatchback is better than all the rest."

Chris Craft, Škoda UK Brand Director, was delighted, but not surprised to win the accolade: “The New Fabia builds on all the fantastic attributes displayed by the original model making it more practical, more comfortable and even more eye-catching. We are not surprised that it has been awarded the title of Scotland’s favourite small car – and customers love it just as much!”

The new Fabia has tempted British buyers with its abundance of ‘lovely stuff’ – and with the choice of seven engines, three trim levels and attractive prices it is another example of Škoda’s ‘extra bit of car’. In true Škoda tradition all models enjoy remarkably high levels of equipment.

Škoda is no stranger to victory at the Scottish Car of the Year Awards, winning the Family Car category with the Roomster in 2006, the Diesel Car of the Year Award in 2003 for the Fabia vRS and the Luxury Car title in 2002 for the Škoda Superb.

Scottish buyers enjoy the Czech brand just as much as the Association of Scottish Motoring Writers too. Skoda’s market share in Scotland is an impressive 2.2% in the nine months to September 2007 – almost 40% higher than the brand’s average UK market share for the same period.