Skoda Yeti Czech Motoring Journalists Club Car of the Year

The Skoda Yeti has won the “2010 Czech Motoring Journalists Club (KMN) Car of the Year” award. An independent jury made up of 37 selected KMN members announced the result of this year's poll at yesterday's gala award ceremony in Prague.

“We are proud to be entitled to use the 2010 Czech Motoring Journalists Club (KMN) Car of the Year” title, one of the reasons being that the new Yeti has become the first SUV in history to have won this prestigious award“, says Jan Hurt, Head of Skoda Sales, Central Europe. “Achieving what no other SUV car has achieved so far shows that we are on the right tack with the Yeti. The first Czech-made SUV was launched in the Czech market this year in mid-July. Since then over 2,400 vehicles of this model have been sold in the Czech Republic alone (13,500 worldwide). Just after three months after the launch in the Czech market, the car became the best selling SUV here. Moreover, the 2010 KMN Car of the Year is not the only award the vehicle has won since its launch. The new Skoda Yeti has also scooped the Auto Bild Golden Steering Wheel award in Switzerland and Austria, the latest award so far is the Auto Trophy in Germany as the most popular imported vehicle“, adds Hurt.

With 223 points in total, the Skoda Yeti comfortably beat the Opel Astra (164 points), Mercedes Benz E (143 points), BMW X1 (136 points) and Volkswagen Polo (134 points). The first round of the poll saw altogether 34 vehicles across a wide range of brands launched in the Czech market from 21 October, 2008 till 31 December, 2009.

Organised every year by the Motoring Journalists Club, the objective of the poll is to find the most significant new arrival in the Czech market. The appraisal criteria include e.g., overall design, safety, economy, driveability, on-the-road behaviour, compliance with environmental standards, price, etc. One of the criteria that makes it possible to compare vehicles of different classes is value for money.