SINGAPORE - The punchy and practical Skoda Octavia RS245 from the Czech Republic is the favourite among Straits Times readers this year.

Out of 10 The Straits Times Car of the Year contenders, the performance variant of the Octavia secured 31 per cent of 28,249 votes cast by the end of a two-week online poll on Thursday.

The Mazda 3, which was leading for a good part of the race, came in second with 25 per cent of votes, followed by the BMW 3-series with 21 per cent.

Results of the readers' poll has no bearing on The Straits Times Car of the Year judging process, which remains independent from the time the award started in 2003.

The winner will be announced in The Straits Times on Saturday (Dec 21).