The seventh edition of NDTV Car & Bike Awards 2012 was held on Dec 16, 2011 to commemorate the best cars, bikes and associated people for the year gone by, much to the delight of auto enthusiasts. The award is considered as one of the most prestigious recognitions in the Indian automotive sector. The ceremony was held at the Buddh International Circuit, the venue which hosted the highly successful Formula One race in October 2011.
While telling the world about the event, Siddharth Vinayak Patankar, Editor-Auto, NDTV Group, had commented, “It’s been a tough year for the industry, with a sales slowdown casting a shadow over proceedings. The huge shift to diesel cars due to rising fuel costs has also impacted not just sales but strategies too. Supply chains in Japan and Thailand were also severely affected due to natural calamities. In all this, it’s definitely the new launches that kept the momentum going, and I am excited we have had such fierce competition from a wide variety of products to choose from this year. As always, our awards credibly honour the best of auto, while also reflecting the choices and sentiments of customers, manufacturers and auto lovers alike.”
The selection process involves all judges driving the nominated vehicles individually and rating them on various parameters before finally deciding the winner for each category. The event also allows auto enthusiasts to cast in their votes for their preferred cars and bikes and provide them a unique chance to win one of the most popular set of wheels launched this year.
This year, Honda Brio took home the Small Car of the Year award, while Maruti Suzuki Swift won the title of Premium Hatchback of the Year. Audi had a big haul this year, as A6 won the Premium Sedan of the Year, RS5 became the Performance Car of the Year and A8L was deemed Import Car of the Year. In the Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) segment, Mahindra XUV500 was adjudged the SUV of the Year, BMW X1 became the Premium SUV of the Year and Range Rover Evoque was termed the Import SUV of the Year. The revamped Hyundai Verna won three titles for itself at the event, Compact Sedan of the Year, Design of the Year and CNB Viewer's Choice Award. In terms of powerhorses, Ferrari 458 Italia/Spider was given the title of Supercar of the Year and Volvo S60 won Full-size Sedan of the Year.
In the two wheeler category, Hero Impulse was considered the best Motorcycle up to 160 cc, while Honda CBR250R was deemed to be the best Motorcycle up to 250 cc. Hyosung GT650N was deemed to be the Import Two Wheeler of the Year by the jurors, while they chose Yamaha Motor India as the Two Wheeler Manufacturer of the Year. Honda CBR250R also won the CNB Viewer's Choice Two Wheeler title, which reflects the popularity of the bike among two wheeler aficionados.
In other categories, 3 Cylinder Diesel Engine in Chevrolet Beat was considered to be the Automotive Technology of the Year and the styling of Range Rover Evoque was deemed as the Design of the Year. Chevrolet Beat won the NDTV Green Award, while Karl Slym, the current head of GM India, who is leaving the office next year, was adjudged the Automotive Man of the Year. Among the winners of Commemorative Award for the 1st Indian GP were Narain Karthikeyan, Michael Schumacher and Jaypee Group.
Audi A8L was the recipient of Best Integrated Campaign of the Year, while the 'Ford Swap My Car' and 'TVS Wego' won the Creative Television Commercial of the Year Award for four wheelers and two wheelers, respectively. Hero MotorCorp and Honda Siel won the award for the Best PR & Communications Team of Year.
The event was hailed as a success in the Indian automotive sector, which rejoiced due to many successful launches, though sales have not been as phenomenal as expected.
