Hyundai’s Creta SUV bags Indian Car of the Year award

Hyundai Motor India Ltd, the country's second-largest car manufacturer and the largest passenger car exporter has won the coveted Indian Car of the Year 2016 (ICOTY) award for its sports utility vehicle Creta.

''As the most loved and trusted car manufacturer in India, Hyundai Motor India wins 3 ICOTY's successively for its products: Creta, Elite i20 and Grand i10 as ICOTY 2016, 2015 and 2014 respectively.

''CRETA has received over 74,000 bookings and 400,000 enquiries and 16,271 orders globally. Emphasis on safety, bold design, dynamic performance and high quality makes the CRETA a perfect SUV,'' the company said.

The ICOTY award is adjudged by a group of 14 jurors of all the prominent automotive publications in the country - Yogendra Pratap x and  Rahul Ghosh (Auto Today), Dhruv Behl and Ishan Raghava (Auto X), Rohin Nagrani (Motoring World), Aspi Bhathena and Aninda Sarda (Car India), Bertrand D'souza and  Bob Rupani (Overdrive), Girish Karkera (BBC Top Gear), Sirish Chandran  and Ouseph Chacko (Evo India magazine), Muralidhar Swaminathan (The Hindu Business Line) and Pablo Chaterji (Mans World). In all nine were represented on the ICOTY 2016 iury with Bob Rupani being the chairman of the Jury.

Y K Koo, managing director and chief executive officer of Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) said, "We are honoured to win the most prestigious automotive award - 'Indian Car of the Year 2016' for our Make in India, made for the world product- the Perfect SUV- Hyundai Creta. The Creta is a true expression of 'New Age' Hyundai setting new benchmarks in the industry. Winning the third successive ICOTY award symbolizes the trust and faith of customers in the Hyundai brand."

Koo added, "We thank all our customers, partners, media and jurors who have chosen CRETA as the Indian Car of the Year 2016 and made Hyundai the most loved and trusted car manufacturer. With innovation at its core, Hyundai is committed to make global quality products with cutting edge technologies and fortify the Hyundai brand, caring for our customers in India and global markets."

Dr Raghupati Singhania, chairman & managing director, JK Tyre & Industries Limited said, "The automobile and auto-ancillary sector in India is growing at a fast pace.

The consumer is ever-discerning and automakers seek to outperform each other. In such a competitive environment, JK Tyre and ICOTY & IMOTY Awards endeavour to recognise those who break the clutter with their innovation and deep understanding of the Indian consumer. Congratulations to Hyundai Creta for sailing through the rigorous judging process and emerging victorious."

Bob Rupani, founder member ICOTY and chairman of the jury, Indian Car of the Year 2016 said, "The ICOTY has clearly become the most credible and coveted auto award in India and is known for its honest and non- partisan voting by highly experienced jury members. I congratulate Hyundai for winning this award for the third time in a row. Scoring a hat-trick at ICOTY is an admirable achievement and by no means an easy feat. It shows that Hyundai is consistently making award winning products of very high standards."