JK Tyre, in association with the top auto magazines in India presented the Indian Car of the Year (ICOTY) 2011 and the Indian Motorcycle of the Year 2011 (IMOTY). In the ICOTY Category, while Ford Figo emerged as the clear winner with 83 points, Volkswagen Vento came second with 57 points. There was a tie for the third spot between Volkswagen polo and Skoda Yeti with 37 points. The finalists for the ICOTY category this year were Chevrolet Beat, Ford Figo, Maruti Suzuki Wagon R, Nissan Micra, Skoda Yeti, Tata Aria, Volkswagen Polo and Volkswagen Vento. There was a close clash between the top three motorcycles in the IMOTY category. Honda CB Twister won with 66 points while giving close competition was Bajaj Pulsar 135 LS with 63 points. TVS Jive was in third position with 48 points. The finalists for the IMOTY category were Bajaj Pulsar 135LS, Bajaj Discover 150, Honda CB Twister, Mahindra Stallio, TVS Jive and TVS Max4R.
The cars and motorcycles nominated were judged on various parameters such as price, fuel efficiency, design, comfort, safety, manoeuvrability, performance, functionality, environmental responsibility and driver/rider satisfaction among others. In addition, technical innovation and value for money were particularly important factors while deciding on the winner. Cars and motorcycles that have had cosmetic facelifts or small mechanical changes like different power or drive trains, do not qualify for these awards. The country of origin does not matter, but they have to be sold in showrooms in India before 30th November of the previous year and should have been homologated for Indian type approval.
The esteemed jury for ICOTY comprised Bob Rupani and Gautam Sen from Auto India, Sirish Chandran and Bertrand D’Souza from Overdrive, Girish Karkera and Sriram Narayanan from Top Gear, Aspi Bhathena from Car India, Srinivas Krishnan and Pablo Chaterji from Business Standard Motoring and Yogendra Pratap and Vikrant Singh from Auto Bild. The jury of IMOTY included Bertrand D’Souza and Shubhabrata Marmar from Overdrive, Girish Karkera and Debabrata Sarkar from Top Gear, Aspi Bhathena from Bike India, Pablo Chaterji from Business Standard Motoring and Vikrant Singh from Auto Bild. This 13 member specialist jury consisting of senior Indian automotive journalists is the best from the industry and together they have over 300 years of experience.
