Skoda is top of the Top Gear pops

They say it’s lonely at the top, but not when you’ve got a trio of your models up there with you!

More than 56,000 Top Gear readers rated 152 cars in the magazine’s annual owner satisfaction survey. Overall Skoda was voted the number one car manufacturer of 2006 by respondents, with the Octavia, Fabia and Superb all making the top ten.

Third place in the prestigious pole went to the previous generation Octavia, which Top Gear described as “a masterpiece of dependability”. Fourth place belonged to the ”charming” little Fabia, with the luxurious Superb scooping seventh place in the reader response survey. These three impressive rankings contributed to Skoda’s overall victory.

A spokesperson for the leading motoring magazine said: “It's a stunning achievement by the Czech manufacturer to break the Japanese monopoly at the top of the table - particularly to overhaul the domination of Lexus - and just reward for a decade of producing spot-on cars that press exactly the right buttons for its owners. Let us toast Skoda.”

The survey results feature in the March issue of Top Gear magazine and you can also view them at topgear.com.

Skoda’s all-new Fabia looks set to continue the brand’s popularity among UK buyers when it hits showrooms in May and the new Octavia – launched in 2005 – has already had a warm reception from the motoring press and some 18,000 British buyers. A stunning new Superb will be launched in 2008.