The Fiat 500 supermini has been voted 'Auto 1 Car of the Year' in Poland by the readers of Auto Swiat, one of the country's leading motoring magazines and a sister publication of Germany's Auto Bild.

The Polish-built Fiat 500 is having a high profile month across Europe: in Germany it is currently travelling on a U-Bahn underground train popping through its busy underground stations to the surprise of commuters, while last Monday it arrived in the UK during a glamorous launch party that included a music concert and one example of the 500 riding in the huge 'London Eye' Ferris wheel.

The Auto Swiat award is just the latest of a series of important prizes the Fiat 500 has collected since its 4th July launch; and of course these were topped off by the most prestigious of all automotive honours when last November it picked up the European Car of the Year title while a month later Italiaspeed viewers pronounced it Italian Production Car of the Year after a landslide vote.

Now the Fiat 500 has added the Auto Swiat award to its bulging collection, voted overall winner of the Auto 1 Car of the Year prize, while it also collected the Small Car of the Year award. The other category winners elected by the readers of Auto Swiat were Saloon of the Year: Ford Mondeo; MPV/Wagon of the Year: Volvo V70; Convertible/Roadster of the Year: Opel GT; SUV of the Year: Honda CR-V; and Sports Car of the Year: Audi A5.

This result means that the Fiat 500 will be one of the finalists to the pan-European Auto 1 competition, which is organised every year by Auto Bild and other members of the group's European publications. The European winner will pick up the trophy at the Geneva Motor Show in March.

Report: Samar