The Indian auto industry’s most definitive awards are back! ICOTY and IMOTY's grand award ceremony was held at Hotel Ashoka,amidst a gathering of some of the most illustrious captains of the Indian Automobile industry.The movers and shakers who took away the coveted awards this year are Hyundai Cretaand Yamaha R3.
This search for the country’s ultimate car and bike of the year has been conceptualised in line with the American Car of the Year, European Car of the Year and Japanese Car of the Year. The Indian Car of the Year (ICOTY) and the Indian Motorcycle of the Year (IMOTY) is the recognition of the finest and best performing car and motorcycle launched in the last one year. Over the years, ICOTY and IMOTY have earned the respect of the auto industry for their transparency and objectivity and are the final say on the best launches of the year. Raghupati Singhania, chairman and managing director, JK Tyre and Industries limited, Bob Rupani, chairman ICOTY 2016 and Aspi Bhathena, chairman, IMOTY 2016, presented the Indian Car of the Year trophy to the team of Hyundai Motor India ltd. and the Indian Motorcycle of the Year trophy to the Yamaha Motor India.
Congratulating the winners, Raghupati Singhania, chairman and managing director, JK Tyre and Industries limited said, “The automobile and auto-ancillary sector in India is growing at a fast pace. The consumer is ever-discerning and auto makers seek to outperform each other. In such a competitive environment, JK Tyre, ICOTY and IMOTY Awards endeavour to recognise those who break the clutter with their innovation and deep understanding of the Indian consumer. Congratulations to Hyundai Cretaand Yamaha R3 for sailing through the rigorous judging process and emerging victorious.”
This year, the final short list of contenders saw a dozen cars and motorcycles battling it out fortwo of the automobile industry’s highest honours. The chosen ones were then put through a further round of assessment. After a strenuous session of evaluation followed by voting, the top three contenders in each category turned out to be Hyundai Creta, Maruti Suzuki Baleno, Renault Kwid and the Yamaha R3, Benelli TNT 300 and Honda CBR650 respectively. The nominated cars and motorcycles were judged on various parameters such as price, fuel economy, styling, comfort, safety, performance, practicality, and technical innovation, value for money and suitability for Indian riding conditions. Commenting on the occasion, YK Koo, MD & CEO, HMIl said, “We are honoured to win the most prestigious automotive award — The Indian car of the Year 2016 for our make in India, made for the world product- the Perfect SUV- Hyundai CRETA. The CRETA is a true expression of ‘New Age’ Hyundai setting new benchmarks in the industry. Winning the third successive ICOTY award symbolises the trust and faith of customers in the Hyundai brand. With innovation at its core, Hyundai will make global quality products with cutting edge technologies and fortify the Hyundai brand, caring for our customers in India and global markets.”
“We launched Yamaha YZF-R3 in August 2015 and the responses that we have been receiving is positive and encouraging. We understand the needs of our customers and therefore pay great attention to details in our products. This win too, is awe-inspiring, thank you IMOTY Jury members and JK Tyre,” said Roy Kurian, vice president, Sales and Marketing, Yamaha Motor India Sales Pvt ltd.
Congratulating the winning car, Bob Rupani, Founder jury member ICOTY, and chairman, ICOTY 2016 said, “The ICOTY award has now become the most credible auto award in the country. It has a diverse and most experienced jury drawn from nine prominent publications and the entire auto industry now considers this award to be the ultimate recognition of their product.Our partnership with JK Tyre who have been sponsoring the award ceremony right from the inception a decade back, gets stronger with every passing year.”
Aspi Bhatena, chairman, IMOTY 2016 commented on the winning motorcycle, “IMOTY 2016 has been one of the toughest awards for the Jury in the last eight years as we had lot of very good motorcycles launched during 2015 but most of them were priced on the high side unlike 2014 where the Harley Davidson street 750 was priced at 4.5 lakhs. last but not the least I would like to thank JK Tyres for their unconditional support for the last eight years.”