Voting for a Winner: Indian Car of the Year (ICOTY) 2013

The esteemed jury of the Indian Car of the Year (ICOTY) 2013 met and cast their votes on the 3rd of December 2012. As per tradition, the jury members gathered in the hill town of Lonavala, near Mumbai. They then drove the cars that had been selected as finalists (sadly, GM failed to provide the Chevrolet Sail UV-A in time for the drive) and later put their votes down on paper.

Many new cars were launched in the year 2012, and over 20 qualified for the 2013 ICOTY (Indian Car of the Year) award. The eleven finalists selected by the jury were the Chevrolet Sail UV-A, Hyundai Elantra, Mahindra Quanto, Maruti-Suzuki Alto 800, Maruti-Suzuki Ertiga, Maruti-Suzuki Swift Dzire, Nissan Evalia, Renault Duster, Renault Pulse, Renault Scala, and Tata Safari Storme.

The jury of the ICOTY 2013 also welcomed into its fold two new members – Dhruv Behl of autoX and Muralidhar Swaminathan of The Hindu Business Line. This means the Jury is now made up of a total of 13 independent and expert jury members from 8 publications, and this clearly makes the ICOTY the most credible, broadest, and most varied view-based awards.

Other jury members of the 2013 ICOTY include Gautam Sen and Bob Rupani of Auto India; Vikrant Singh and Rahul Ghosh of Auto Bild; Srinivas Krishnan and Rohin Nagrani of BS Motoring; Aspi Bhathena of Car India; Bertrand D’souza and Shubhabrata Marmar of Overdrive, and Girish Karkera and Sriram Narayanan of Top Gear. The Chairman of the jury for 2013 is Bob Rupani.

All these jury members evaluate and test cars as a part of their profession, and are known for their analytical skills and competence. Once a year they come together to vote for the ICOTY. The winner will be announced (look for a report in our next issue) at a glittering awards ceremony in Mumbai, sponsored by JK Tyres – supporters of the ICOTY right from its inception.