Indian Car of the Year

Award

Indian Car of the Year

Country| India
First award| 2006; 19 years ago (2006)
Website| www.icoty.org

The Indian Car of the Year Award (ICOTY) is presented annually to the best new car launched in India, and is based on similar other awards such as European Car of the Year. The award was established in 2006, with the Maruti Suzuki Swift winning the first award[1] and the  Mahindra Thar Roxx winning the latest award in 2025.[2]

Hyundai has won the award eight times, while Maruti Suzuki four times and Honda and Mahindra & Mahindra have won twice. Swift is the only car model to win the award three times. Most of the award-winning cars have been from Japanese or Korean manufacturers, and are available globally in the same or different guises. The Hyundai Elite i20 and i10 Grand, for instance, are available in Europe and Japan. The European Renault Duster developed by the Renault engineers, sold worldwide and built in India yet got this award for 2013. The Maruti brand on Suzuki models is exclusive to India. The Honda City is largely restricted to Asian and South American markets, while the Ford Figo is a modified version of the Ford Fiesta that was sold in Europe from 2002 to 2008. The Honda Civic is a global model, although not all versions are sold on every market.

ICOTY also awards the Premium Car Award, first awarded in 2019 for luxury and performance cars and the Green Car Award, first awarded for hybrid and electric cars in 2021.

## Rules

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All new car models except facelift qualify for the award, however cars which have minor changes such as cosmetic face lifts or minor mechanical changes do not qualify for the award. The car has to be manufactured or assembled in India and has to be on sale before 30 November of the previous year. The car should be approved for the Indian market by the official authority however CBU's (Completely Built Unit) which are imported are not considered for the award.[3]

For the Premium Car Award, luxury and performance cars priced above the ₹40 lakh are considered including cars which come through the CBU route. Green Car Award takes in consideration hybrid and electric cars and also include cars which come through the CBU route.[4]

### Voting process

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The voting jury consists automobile journalists from all over India. Each jury member has a maximum of 25 points, where each member can allot a maximum of 10 points to one car. And every Jury member must give points to at least 5 of the contending cars.[3]

## Results

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### Indian Car of the Year

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#### Winners by Year

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Kia Carens, the current winner of Indian Car of the Year. Year  | Winner

|

2006  | Maruti Suzuki Swift
2007  | Honda Civic
2008  | Hyundai i10
2009  | Honda City
2010  | Tata Nano
2011  | Ford Figo
2012  | Maruti Suzuki Swift
2013  | Renault Duster
2014  | Hyundai Grand i10
2015  | Hyundai Elite i20
2016  | Hyundai Creta
2017  | Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza
2018  | Hyundai Verna
2019  | Maruti Suzuki Swift
2020  | Hyundai Venue
2021  | Hyundai i20
2022  | Mahindra XUV700
2023  | Kia Carens
2024  | Hyundai Exter
2025  | Mahindra Thar Roxx

#### Winners by manufacturers

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Brand  | Award nb.  | Models

|
|

Hyundai | 8  | i10
(2008)  | Grand i10
(2014)  | Elite i20
(2015)  | Creta
(2016)  | Verna
(2018)  | Venue
(2020)  | i20
(2021)  |

Exter
(2024)

Maruti Suzuki | 4  | Swift
(2006)  | Swift
(2012)  | Vitara Brezza
(2017)  | Swift
(2019)
Honda | 2  | Civic
(2007)  | City
(2009)
Mahindra | 2  | XUV700
(2022)  | Thar Roxx
(2025)
Ford | 1  | Figo
(2011)
Renault | 1  | Duster
(2013)
Tata | 1  | Nano
(2010)
Kia | 1  | Carens
(2023)

### Premium Car Award

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#### Winners by Year

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Year  | Winner

|

2019  | Volvo XC40
2020  | BMW 3 Series
2021  | Land Rover Defender
2022  | Mercedes-Benz S-Class
2023  | Mercedes-Benz EQS 580
2024  | BMW 7 Series
2025  | Mercedes-Benz E-Class

#### Winners by manufacturers

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Brand  | Award nb.  | Models

|
|

Mercedes-Benz | 3  | S-Class

(2022)

EQS 580 (2023)

| E-Class (2025)
BMW | 2  | 3 Series

(2020)

BMW 7 Series (2024)

Land Rover | 1  | Defender

(2021)

Volvo | 1  | XC40

(2019)

### Green Car Award

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#### Winners by Year

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Year  | Winner

|

2021  | Tata Nexon EV
2022  | Audi e-tron
2023  | Kia EV6
2024  | Hyundai Ioniq 5
2025  | MG Windsor EV

#### Winners by manufacturers

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Brand  | Award nb.  | Models

|
|

Tata | 1  | Nexon EV
(2021)
Audi | 1  | e-tron
(2022)
Kia | 1  | EV6
(2023)
Hyundai | 1  | Ioniq 5
(2024)
MG | 1  | Windsor EV
(2025)

## See also

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* Car of the Year
* List of motor vehicle awards

## References

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1. ^ Motoring, B. S. (6 May 2006). "Swiftly making history". Business Standard. India. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
2. ^ "India Car of The Year (ICOTY)". ICOTY (Indian Car of the Year). Retrieved 19 December 2019.
3. ^ a b "Indian Car of the Year – About Us". icoty.org. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
4. ^ "India Car of The Year (ICOTY)". ICOTY (Indian Car of the Year). Retrieved 11 March 2021.