Mitchell Skoda in Chester, Sinclair Skoda in Swansea and Carrs in Indian Queens, Cornwall have come away with the top prizes at Skoda’s retailer of the year awards in Prague. Skoda Retailer of the Year awards 2011

The three dealerships were named as the best of the best in the UK at the ceremony which was presented by BBC News presenter Kate Silverton.

Other winners at the Skoda Retailer of the Year Awards were:

  • New vehicle sales: Rainworth Škoda, Mansfield
  • Fleet sales: Capitol Škoda, Newport
  • Marketing and PR: Mitchell Škoda, Chester
  • Training: David Ian Ltd, Morecambe
  • Facilities: Dennis Horton & Son Ltd, Lincoln
  • Used vehicle sales: Alex Lawrie, Liverpool
  • Aftersales performance: Beadles Škoda, Maidstone
  • Škoda Finance: DM Keith Group, Yorkshire
  • Customer satisfaction: Derek Slack Motors, Middlesborough

Robert Hazelwood, Skoda UK managing director, said: “It’s a real pleasure to have an evening where we can recognise the network and it gives our management team the chance to thank them all for their hard work throughout 2010.

“Our brand is growing rapidly and we are proud to have such fantastic retailers as part of our group.”

Hazelwood said Skoda takes a partnership approach to its retail network. He said: “We listen to all of our 130 retailers by holding regional dinners to gain feedback and we host this annual event to reward their hard-work; after all, we have large growth targets to meet and we can only do this with the full support of our network.”

Globally, Škoda aims to increase its annual sales volume from 760,000 to more than 1,000,000 within the next five years. The UK will play a major role in Škoda’s growth and is expected to account for more than 45,000 registrations this year, more than 2% of the UK’s new car market share.

Hazelwood concludes: “To achieve our ambitious targets we are investing heavily in our marketing.

“We will soon be unveiling our new corporate identity and we were really pleased to announce at the event that our latest TV advert for the Fabia vRS has been nominated twice at the British Television Advertising Awards for Best Advert and Best Car Advert.”