Hyundai Verna is the Indian Car of the Year or ICOTY 2018. The Verna had to fend off eight other challengers shortlisted by the ICOTY Jury that included the Honda WR-V, Jeep Compass, Maruti Suzuki Dzire, Maruti Suzuki Ignis, Renault Captur, Skoda Kodiaq, Tata Nexon and the Volkswagen Tiguan.
This year’s ICOTY saw the closest fight ever for the title. Once all 18 jury members had cast their votes, and after every single score sheet was counted and double checked, the winner’s score was found to be higher by just 1 point! With a total of 450 points to be given, a winning score of 1 point is incredible.
In the closest contest experienced by the ICOTY Jury yet, the Hyundai Verna emerged the winner with 118 points while the Maruti Suzuki Dzire finished runners-up with a score of 117. The Jeep Compass came in third with 87 points.
The ICOTY jury for 2018 included 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), Hani Musthafa (Flywheel) and Vikrant Singh (CarWale).
This specialist jury consisting of 18 senior Indian automotive journalists is easily the largest such jury in our country and they cumulatively have almost 300 years of car evaluation experience! The jury is known for their analytical skills and competence in evaluating and testing cars, as a part of their profession. As for the award property itself, ICOTY is in line with international standards and is modeled along the lines of the American Car of the Year, European Car of the Year and Japanese Car of the Year.
On behalf of the esteemed Jury of ICOTY 2018, 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, meanwhile, presented a winners certificate signed by all ‘Jury Members’ of ICOTY 2018 to Hyundai.
This was the 13th edition of the ICOTY, which has emerged as the most honest and desired auto award and is now considered the ‘Oscar’ of Indian automotive awards. This award is an expert and independent judgment of the best new car and the award has been getting increasingly prominent with each passing year. JK Tyre has been sponsoring the award ceremony of the ICOTY ever since its inception.
