The Hyundai i10 has secured the coveted title for 2008 Indian Car of the Year. The i10 is a car that made its global launch in India,and is manufactured in the country for the rest of the world. Criteria like price, fuel efficiency, design, comfort, safety, handling, performance, functionality, environmental responsibility and driver satisfaction were kept in mind. Technical innovation and value for money were particularly important factors while deciding on the winner.
Four new cars qualified for this year's award. These were the Chevrolet Spark, Hyundai i10, Mahindra Renault Logan and the Maruti Suzuki SX4. As is evident these cars are essentially new models and not just cosmetic upgrades of an existing vehicle or an installation of a new engine or transmission. The cars are considered irrespective of their country of origin but must be available in India at the time of voting and must have been homologated for Indian type approval.
The jury members were tasked with pronouncing a single decisive winner and the voting process has been designed specifically for this purpose, not to provide a scale of merit of all competing cars. Categories, sub-divisions and the like have thus been done away with and the jury is required to assess cars from various segments and price categories against their immediate market rivals.
The Indian Car of the Year award is an expert, independent judgment of all new cars on the Indian market, judged by a panel of senior motoring journalists from leading automobile magazines in India. This year, twelve automotive journalists from seven publications – Autocar India, Auto India, Business Standard Motoring, Car India, Overdrive, Top Gear India and What Car got together to deliberate on the Indian Car of the Year 2008 and to crown the most outstanding new car to go on sale in the twelve months preceding the date of the title.
Selection of the winning car was by a simple voting system. Each Jury member has 25 points to apportion to at least five cars, with a maximum of 10 points for any one of them. Heung Soo Lheem, managing director and CEO of Hyundai Motor India Ltd received the award. "It is a great achievement for Hyundai. We want to make great cars which are appreciated in India and around the world. The success of the i10 is proof of that. Now we are working on one more car - the i20 - which will be launched later this year, and which we hope will win the Indian Car of the Year award for us again in 2009."
No comments:
Post a Comment