We have a new ICOTY and IMOTY for 2011!
It’s that time of the year again, ladies and gentlemen. The country’s most prestigious automotive excellence awards, the ICOTY and IMOTY awards, were announced at a glittering ceremony on December 15, presented by JK Tyre. Ford’s cheerful small car, the Figo, walked off with the ICOTY 2011 award, while Honda’s equally effervescent CB Twister was declared the IMOTY for 2011.
Declaring an ICOTY winner this year was a tough call, what with the quality of the contenders. If the list reads Ford Figo, Chevrolet Beat, Suzuki Wagon R, Volkswagen Polo and Vento, Nissan Micra, Tata Aria and Skoda Yeti, you can well imagine the sort of intense competition on offer, and the magnitude of the task before the jury. Some cars seemed like shoo-ins at first.
How could you argue with the Micra’s overall quality and features, for example? Tata’s Aria presented clear evidence that the company is progressing by leaps and bounds, and that they have perhaps made their most complete automobile yet. The Yeti? It’s created a new automotive segment all by itself. The Polo gives you a feeling of unmatched solidity. In the end, the jury, comprising 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, Yogendra Pratap and Vikrant Singh from Auto Bild and Srinivas Krishnan and Pablo Chaterji from our own Business Standard Motoring, decided that it was the Figo, with its compelling mix of flair, driving dynamics, efficient engines, great pricing and overall suitability for India, which deserved the crown. Taking second place was the Volkswagen Vento, with the Volkswagen Polo and the Skoda Yeti tying for third place.
The IMOTY award was equally well contested, despite there being fewer contenders than the ICOTY. The choices before the jury, comprising Bertrand D’Souza and Shubhabrata Marmar from Overdrive, Girish Karkera and Debabrata Sarkar from Top Gear, Aspi Bhathena from Bike India, Vikrant Singh from Auto Bild and Pablo Chaterji from Business Standard Motoring, were the Bajaj Pulsar 135 LS, the Bajaj Discover 150, the Mahindra Stallio, the Honda CB Twister, the TVS Jive and the TVS Max4R. Each had its own strengths — the Pulsar is one of the slickest motorcycles around, with performance bettering bikes in the 150 cc class; the Jive makes commuting effortless; the Stallio represents Mahindra’s salvo in the two-wheeler game.
After much considered thought, though, the consensus was clear — the Honda CB Twister, as a motorcycling package, was a notch above the rest. The Bajaj Pulsar 135 didn’t give up without a fight, coming in a strong second, and the innovative TVS Jive took an honourable third place. If you think that this year’s competition was tough, just wait until next year, when cars like the Toyota Etios, the Honda Brio and Suzuki’s new Swift and bikes like the Mahindra Mojo, the all-new Bajaj Pulsars and the Honda CBR250R will add spice to the mix!
