The Indian automobile market is one of the most diverse and challenging for manufacturers. But, for the consumer, while the choice available a decade ago might have been limiting, today, the plethora of options available is so confusing that often they need some form of guidance in choosing the right car.
There is still some distance to go before we can say that ours is truly a mature market with buyers being absolutely sure about the category and the brand that they should choose to buy.
But, each new car or bike that is launched is already well-researched by the manufacturer for its relevance and acceptability in the Indian market. And more and more new cars and bikes are being specially created for the Indian buyer or are being tailored to suit the local tastes, preferences and conditions of the market.
Do one car and one bike across all categories stand out every year as the best examples of local manufacturing and as being truly representative of buyer preferences here? Can there be an unbiased, independent selection of the best car and the best bike for the year from amongst the huge variety of vehicles and bikes that get launched?
The Indian Car of the Year (ICOTY) and the Indian Motorcycle of the Year (IMOTY) awards attempt to do just that. These awards are an expert and completely independent judgement of the best new car and bike.
The jury for the awards is comprised of eminent motoring journalists from the leading automobile magazines in India.
The ICOTY award attempts to emulate a similar award (COTY) issued in Europe by leading publications from the region and has been issued annually since 1964. The ICOTY itself was instituted and first issued in 2006. A transparent voting process and a simplified, unbiased set of rules makes these awards one of the most credible in their respective geographies.
‘Made in India’ and ‘Made for India’, these are the two traits that the ICOTY and IMOTY try to identify in the products within these two categories. For the purpose, essentially, the vehicles and bikes launched on the year of assessment are considered for the next year’s award. To qualify for both the awards, the cars and bikes need to be new models, not facelifts, and have to be manufactured in India or involve significant local assembly.
So, obviously, completely built units (CBUs) don’t qualify for the awards. They also have to be vehicles and bikes that have been launched in the Indian market and are available in showrooms before November 30 of the year of assessment.
The selection of the winner is broadly based on parameters like price, fuel efficiency, styling, comfort, safety, performance, practicality, technical innovation, value for money and suitability for Indian conditions.
This year for the ICOTY 2013 there were 13 representatives from a total of eight publications that were part of the jury, including for first time The Hindu Business Line. The list of the jury members and their respective publications are mentioned in the photo caption.
ICOTY 2013
A number of new cars were launched in 2012 and over 20 qualified for the 2013 ICOTY award. The eleven finalists that were then selected by the jury were the Chevrolet Sail UV-A, Hyundai Elantra, Mahindra Quanto, Maruti-Suzuki Alto 800, Maruti-Suzuki Ertiga, Maruti-Suzuki Swift Dzire, Nissan Evalia, Renault Duster, Renault Pulse, Renault Scala and Tata Safari Storme.
The voting process involves each jury member assigning award points to the list of finalists based on his assessment of and personal driving experience with each of the cars. Each jury member gets a total of 25 points to award and he can allot a maximum of 10 points to one car. To make the voting process fair and balanced, each jury member is also required to give points to at least five of the contending cars.
The results are then collated and the top three finalists are identified, of which the one with the highest points becomes the Indian Car of the Year. This year’s voting process saw quite a diversity in points awarded, though the top choices were quite consistent.
The top three contenders for the ICOTY 2013 were the Hyundai Elantra, Maruti Ertiga and Renault Duster and tough competition was noted amongst these three. In the final points tally, the Renault Duster emerged winner with 99 points, followed by the Maruti-Suzuki Ertiga scoring 74 points and Hyundai Elantra getting 68 points.
The Renault Duster won the award for its ability to capture the imagination of the car buyer, by setting a new benchmark in the fast emerging affordable compact crossover segment. Its promise of reliability, efficiency, ride quality and handling gives it a special appeal. It also managed to create a new quality benchmark in the segment.
The Maruti-Suzuki Ertiga came second in the rankings, but this was another unique vehicle that despite being built on the same platform as the new Swift manages to morph into a fairly comfortable, practical and affordable 7-seater or a compact family van. The new Hyundai Elantra was the third in the list, but managed to beat some of the other serious competitors thanks to its intrinsic qualities. It is a classic Hyundai, offering great value for its price and this new generation also manages to up the quality quotient significantly.
IMOTY 2013
The Indian bike market has been steadily maturing over the years and there has been slow but steady movement towards more powerful and larger performance bikes. Many of these are increasingly being locally produced and so IMOTY 2013’s list of contenders had a healthy mix.
The KTM Duke 200 joined the fray, but faced serious competition from a variety of motorcycles in different classes – the Bajaj Pulsar 200NS and Discover 125ST, the Honda Dream Yuga and CBR150R, the Suzuki Hayate, the Hero Ignitor, the Royal Enfield Thunderbird 500, the Hyosung GT250R and the TVS Phoenix. The KTM Duke 200 won the IMOTY with a total of 56 points, but the Pulsar 200NS ran it very close indeed with 47 points, while the Dream Yuga polled 30 points to come in at third place.
The Duke is the first offering from KTM in India, and it has been an instant hit, both critically and commercially. Its aggressive, modern design, powerful 200cc, 25.5 bhp engine and raw, energetic nature give it a unique position compared to the other motorcycles in its class.
The two awards were given away to the manufacturer’s representatives at a gala ceremony held in Mumbai on December 20, 2012. JK Tyres, which has been a supporter of the ICOTY and IMOTY was the sponsor of the awards ceremony in Mumbai.
Previous ICOTY Winners
2006 – Maruti Suzuki Swift
2007 – Honda Civic
2008 – Hyundai i10
2009 – Honda City
2010 – Tata Nano
2011 – Ford Figo
2012 – Maruti Suzuki Swift
Previous IMOTY Winners
2008 – Bajaj Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi
2009 – Yamaha R15
2010 – Kawasaki Ninja 250
2011 – Honda CB Twister
2012 – Honda CBR250R