Korean brand Hyundai takes home the big prize for its class-leading Verna sedan.
The Indian Car of the Year (ICOTY) 2018 was announced at a glamorous award ceremony in Delhi on December 13, 2017. On behalf of the esteemed Jury of ICOTY 2017, Dr. Raghupati Singhania, Chairman & Managing Director, JK Tyre & Industries Limited handed over the Indian Car of the Year trophy to Y.K. Koo, MD & CEO, Hyundai Motor India Ltd. The Chairman of the ICOTY Jury Bob Rupani, presented a winners certificate signed by all jury members of ICOTY 2018 to the team of Hyundai.
Indian Ocean, one of the nation’s most celebrated rock & roll bands put on a cracking show in front of a packed audience, with the who’s who of the automotive world in attendance.
Now in its 13th edition, the ICOTY is the pinnacle of auto awards in India – the most honest, reputed, and coveted prize in the industry. JK Tyre have sponsored the award ceremony ever since its inception, and have helped bring together the foremost names in India’s automotive press to deliberate and decide which car is worthy of this prestigious accolade.
16 new cars were launched in 2017 that qualified for this award, and 9 made it to the final jury round held on 4th December, 2017 in Lonavala, at Khushru Patel’s beautiful stud farm and bungalow. The top nine contenders were the Honda WR-V; Hyundai Verna; Jeep Compass; Maruti Suzuki Dzire; Maruti Suzuki Ignis; Renault Captur; Skoda Kodiaq; Tata Nexon and Volkswagen Tiguan.
This year’s award was probably the most closely contested one yet. Once all 18 Jury Members had cast their votes, and after every single score sheet was counted, the winner’s score was higher by just 1 point! With a total of 450 points to be given, the Hyundai Verna emerged the winner with 118 points and the runner up was the Maruti Suzuki Dzire with a score of 117. The Jeep Compass ended up clinching third spot with 87 points.
The ICOTY 2018 had the strongest jury turnout in terms of numbers to date, and the this eminent panel comprised of Yogendra Pratap (Auto Today), Rahul Ghosh (Auto Today), Dhruv Behl (Auto X), Ishan Raghava (Auto X), Aspi Bhathena (Car India), Sarmad Kadri (Car India), Sirish Chandran (Evo India), Aninda Sardar (Evo India), Kartik Ware (Motoring World), Raunak Ajinkya (Motoring World), Bob Rupani (Overdrive), Rohit Paradkar (Overdrive), Girish Karkera (Top Gear), Agasti Kaulgi (Top Gear) , Muralidhar Swaminathan (The Hindu Business Line), Pablo Chaterji (Man’s World) and Vikrant Singh and Hani Musthafa. Nine very prestigious publications were represented on the ICOTY 2018 Jury.
This specialist jury consisting of eighteen senior Indian automotive journalists is easily the largest such jury in our country. Together they have almost 300 years of car evaluation experience, and are renowned for their analytical skills and competence in evaluating and testing cars, as a part of their vocation. This seasoned group of journalists is responsible for selecting a single, decisive, winner and the voting process has been designed to be completely fair, unbiased and tamper proof.
The cars that are eligible for the award are judged on all the essential parameters such as price, fuel efficiency, styling, comfort, safety, features, performance, practicality, technical innovation, value for money and above all suitability to India’s singular driving conditions.
