Volvo XC40 wins Premium Car Award 2019 by ICOTY

Volvo XC40 has been awarded the first ever Premium Car Award by ICOTY. ICOTY or the Indian Car of the Year is India’s most coveted car award. 

Now, among other things, India relevance is a strong consideration factor when it comes to awarding points for ICOTY. And that over the years has meant that the luxury or expensive cars – no matter how good – have never really had a chance at winning the ICOTY given our market is skewed towards lower priced offerings. 

But, to give the luxury cars their due, the Indian Car of the Year jury this year has introduced the Premium Car Award under the aegis of the ICOTY. All cars – made in India, CKDs or even CBUs – that are priced upwards of Rs 40 lakhs are considered for this award. And the same jury that votes for the ICOTY also votes for the Premium Car Award. 

This year, the Premium Car Award shortlist included the Audi Q5, the Audi RS5, the BMW X3, the BMW 6 Series GT, the Mini Countryman, the Volvo XC60, the Range Rover Velar, the Lexus ES300H, the Mercedes-AMG E63 S, and the Porsche Cayenne, besides the Volvo XC40. Of this list, the XC60 finished second followed by the E63 S AMG.

As for the jury, it included Yogendra Pratap (Auto Today), Rahul Ghosh (Auto Today), Dhruv Behl (Auto X), Ishan Raghava  (Auto X), Aspi Bhathena (Car India), Sarmad Kadri (Car India), Sirish Chandran (Evo India), Aninda Sardar (Evo India), Kartik Ware (Motoring World), Raunak Ajinkya (Motoring World), Abhay Verma (Overdrive), Rohit Paradkar (Overdrive),  Girish Karkera (Top Gear), Agasti Kaulgi (Top Gear), Muralidhar Swaminathan (The Hindu Business Line), Pablo Chaterji (Man’s World), Hani Musthafa (Flywheel) and Vikrant Singh (CarWale).

The award was presented by Dr. Raghupati Singhania, Chairman & Managing Director, JK Tyre & Industries Limited on behalf of the ICOTY committee. It was received by Charles Frump, Managing Director, Volvo Auto India. Yogendra Pratap, Chairman of the ICOTY, also presented Volvo with the winner's certificate that was signed by all the esteemed jury members.