Indian Car of the Year is new Honda City, Motorcycle of the Year is Yamaha YZF R-15

ICOTY and IMOTY Awards 2009 announced

Auto magazines in India, in association with JK tyres, presented one of the most significant and credible awards – Indian car of the year (ICOTY) to the all new Honda city and the Indian Motor Bike of the year to Yamaha’s YZF R15.

The Car of the Year and Motorcycle of the Year 2009 awards were presented by vice-chairman & managing director of JK Tyre Industries Ltd. Dr. R. P. Singhania to the senior management of Honda Siel Cars India led by chairman Siddharth Shriram (in the car category) and the senior management of Yamaha Motor India led by MD & CEO Y Tsuji (in the bike category).

All New Honda City: Indian Car of the Year 2009

Senior automobile journalists from various leading auto magazines in India were part of the special jury consisting of 11 members. Selection of the winner is by a simple voting system with each jury member having twenty-five points to allot to at least four cars. They can give a maximum of 10 points to any one of them.

Although the first position didn’t come easy to the winners as they had some close competition. In the ICOTY contest, the all new Honda City bagged the first prize with 68 points, Hyundai i20 came a close second place with an overall 62 points.

Yamaha YZF R-15: Indian Motorcycle of the Year 2009

The All New Honda City (ANHC as many call it) replaced the Honda City which was a hot seller in its category with an even better car. The new Honda City is even more bigger than the one it replaces, has all the sfety features which the earlier one lacked, looked very modern, and offered 118 bhp taking it clear ahead of every other mid-size sedan in India.

In the bike category, the Yamaha YZF R15 which came out as the winner had an overall tally of 44 points being closely chased by a sibling, the Yamaha FZ16 with 37 points. The YZF R-15 is Yamaha’s motorcycle in India with some sporting pretensions and brimming with new technology, even though it is only a 150 cc motorcycle. The motorcycle which came no. 2, the FZ-16 was also extremely popular as its styling appealed to the masses with its muscle bike appeal, and affordable price tag.

Speaking at the award ceremony, Dr. R.P. Singhania, vice-chairman and managing director, JK Tyre & Industries Ltd., said “This award truly reflects the choice of the experts. At JK Tyre, it has always been its endeavor to associate and award the excellence in auto industry – be it motorsport or a class product. Today, India is the second largest manufacturer of two wheelers in the world and ranked 11th in the World Passenger car market.”

Therefore, these awards are to honor the intensive efforts of the manufacturers for extensive research & development, designing excellence and innovation to bring out products that delight both the experts and customer, he concluded.

All the cars and motor bikes that qualify for the Indian Car of the Year and Indian Motor Bike of the Year awards are new models. Facelifted versions and new models with changes in power and other parameters  are not enough to qualify for the ICOTY and IMOTY awards. The country of origin is immaterial but the automobile should be showcased in India before 31st of December of the previous year should have been homologated for Indian type approval.