Skoda takes two awards at carBuyer awards ceremony 2015.

• ŠKODA scoops Best First Car and Best Tax-Exempt car in the 2015 Car Buyer Awards
• Octavia Estate and Citigo add to their growing trophy cabinets
• Citigo praised for its running costs and sophistication
• Octavia Estate wowed judges with its low CO₂ emissions and class-leading space

The ŠKODA Citigo and Octavia Estate have secured yet more silverware courtesy of car review website CarBuyer. The online giant handed the Best First Car award to the Citigo and bestowed the honour of Best Tax-Exempt Car on the Octavia Estate.

In a change to previous years, the CarBuyer judges looked at some of the most requested searches on its site, and chose these as the categories. Having won a number of CarBuyer awards in the past for its best in class models, ŠKODA also triumphed under the new procedure – reinforcing their overall appeal with buyers. 

Commenting on the Citigo’s award for Best First Car, CarBuyer Editor Stuart Milne said: “The Citigo is fun, sophisticated and cheap to buy and run. In the closely fought small-car market ŠKODA's reputation for great customer service sets it apart.”

As many newly-qualified drivers have already discovered, the Citigo’s intuitive controls, great visibility and compact dimensions make it the ideal car for first-timers. To highlight this, ŠKODA is a partner in the Young Driver programme – a scheme that provides driving lessons for children aged 11 to 17. 

With access to a fleet of Citigos, The Young Driver programme uses 30 specially designed training facilities across the country to give the next generation of drivers the best possible start to their driving careers. To date, more than 100,000 lessons have been delivered by instructors.

At the other end of the size scale, CarBuyer also judged the Octavia Estate to be its Best Tax-Exempt Car, with Editor Stuart Milne saying: “The Octavia Estate is a big car with a massive boot, which makes it all the more incredible that some versions emit so little CO₂ that they're free to tax.”

A total of six models in the Octavia Estate range have CO₂ outputs low enough (Band A – up to 100g/km) under to qualify for zero rated car tax. This includes the generously equipped Octavia SE Business GreenLine III (£21,170) that features Amundsen satellite navigation, acoustic parking sensors and alloy wheels.