Skoda

Why it won...

One maker has dominated our Driver Power award ever since the first Auto Express owner satisfaction survey eight years ago. Lexus had made this honour its own – meaning Skoda’s triumph in 2009 is all the more remarkable.

The Japanese brand trades on the reliability of its cars, so it was perhaps no surprise that it clung on to this award for such a long time. The fact it has now had it wrested from its grasp by a firm that majors on value is simply incredible.

As ever, this year’s Driver Power report (Issue 1,059) listed the best 100 cars as voted for by you – and there were two Skodas in the top three. To decide the winner of our Driver Power award, though, we take an average score for each brand’s range – and it was the consistency of Skoda’s entire line-up that brought it home ahead of Lexus.

We should have seen it coming, because in 2008 the Octavia had won the individual prize and Skoda was ranked second in the manufacturer standings. These results help to explain why the company has managed to cultivate such a loyal following. All that remains to be seen now is whether Skoda can repeat this success in our Dealer Survey later in the year. On this evidence, few would bet against it!