…Is the Hyundai Elite i20
The Indian Car of the Year (ICOTY) 2015 was announced at a glittering and glamorous ceremony in Mumbai on December 17, 2014. On behalf of the esteemed Jury of ICOTY 2015, Dr. Raghupati Singhania, Vice-Chairman & Managing Director, JK Tyre & Industries Limited very kindly handed over the Indian Car of the Year trophy to the team of Hyundai Motor India Ltd.
This was the 10th anniversary of the ICOTY, which has emerged as the most credible and coveted award and is now almost like the ‘Oscar’ of Indian automotive awards. This award is an expert and independent
judgment of the best new car and the award has been gaining prominence with each passing year. JK Tyre has been sponsoring the award ceremony of the ICOTY ever since its inception.
About 15 new cars launched in 2014 qualified for these awards and 10 made it to the final jury round held in Lonavala at Khushru Patel’s beautiful bungalow on 4th December, 2014. The top three contenders
were the Hyundai Elite i20, Maruti Suzuki Ciaz and Honda City. The Hyundai Elite i20 with 123 points was the clear winner with the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz scoring 67 points and Honda City 65 points.
The Jury of ICOTY 2015 included Bob Rupani (Chairman), Yogendra Pratap (Auto Bild), Rahul Ghosh (Auto Bild), Dhruv Behl (Auto X), Arup Das (Auto X), Rohin Nagrani (Motoring World), Kartik Ware (Motoring World), Aspi Bhathena (Car India), Aninda Sarda (Car India), Bertrand D’souza (Overdrive), Halley Prabhakar (Overdrive), Girish Karkera (BBC Top Gear), Murali Menon (BBC Top Gear), Sirish Chandran (Evo India), Ouseph Chacko (Evo India) and Muralidhar Swaminathan (The Hindu Business Line). In all eight very prestigious publications were represented on the ICOTY 2015 Jury.
This specialist jury consisting of sixteen senior Indian automotive journalists is the best from the industry and together they have over 300 years of experience. The jury is known for their analytical skills and competence in evaluating and testing cars, as a part of their profession. The highly experienced jury members are responsible for selecting a single decisive winner and the voting process has been
designed to be very fair and unbiased and tamper proof. The ICOTY award is in line with international standards and modeled on the American Car of the Year, European Car of the Year and Japanese Car of
the Year.
The eligible cars were judged on various parameters such as price, fuel efficiency, styling, comfort, safety, performance, practicality, technical innovation, value for money and above all suitability for Indian consumers and driving conditions.
