MUMBAI: It was a night celebrating fast paced thrills and glamour, the coveted NDTV Car and Bike Awards, presented by Future Generali and powered by Mobil was a scintillating affair indeed.
Renault Kwid won the NDTV car of the year award 2016 and Bajaj Pulsar RS 200 was awarded the NDTV two wheeler of the year 2016. Leaders from the automobile industry, marketers, jury members and PR persons joined on the occasion.
This year, the NDTV Car and Bike Awards saw a panel discussion on the state of the industry, the status of the crucial road safety bill, and how the industry is looking to play its part to tackle growing air pollution. The eminent panellists included Hero MotoCorp managing director and CEO Pawan Munjal and Maruti Suzuki India managing director Kenichi Ayukawa. The discussion was moderated by NDTV group CEO Vikram Chandra.
Renault India CEO Sumit Sawhney was awarded the coveted automotive man of the year 2016 for the launch of the KWID, and his bold strategy behind that success. The 11 edition of the awards also honoured products launched over the past year, across both car and bike segments and recognised industry leaders, advertisers, marketers and PR professionals from the industry.
The Mobil CNB Viewers’ Choice Awards for both cars and bikes provided NDTV viewers the exciting opportunity to vote for their favourite car and bike nominees and stand a chance to take the year’s hottest wheels home. Renault Kwid and Bajaj Pulsar RS 200 were announced as the Mobil CNB viewer’s choice car and two wheeler respectively. Virat Kohli was awarded the brand ambassador of the year while the BMW i8 took home the trophy for automotive technology of the year.
On the eve of the 11 edition of the awards, NDTV group's editor auto and head of automobile programming Siddharth Vinayak Patankar said, “What a superb year it has been, that has given us such competent and exciting products. The industry is also climbing back from its worst days, which is encouraging for us all. I remain proud that we deliver India's most credible automobile awards! I have fiercely guarded the awards process and we had fantastic juries for the various categories, which made it even more comprehensive. As always we credibly honour the best of the auto industry while also reflecting the choices and sentiments of customers, manufactures and auto lovers alike."
The Marketing and Communications awards categories had a special jury made up of Madison World chairman and MD Sam Balsara, Clea Public Relations chairman and MD Vinod Nair, Ogilvy & Mather national creative director Rajiv Rao, McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific chairman and lyricist Prasoon Joshi, Asylum Films founder Razneesh Ghai , NDTV Prime strategy head editor and anchor Shruti Verma Singh, and NDTV group editor-auto and head of automobile programming Siddharth Vinayak Patankar.
The product awards boasted a panel of eminent jury members including Car India and Bike India editor Aspi Bhatena, DC Design, Racers CEO Dilip Chhabria, Aditya Patel, Karun Chandhok and Rayomand Banajee, senior industry consultant Dr V Sumantran, rallyist and auto enthusiast Kamlesh Patel, Man’s World managing editor Pablo Chaterji, Evo India editor Sirish Chandran, NDTV Assistant Editor-Auto PS Balakrishnan, and NDTV Group Editor-Auto Siddharth Vinayak Patankar.
The key categories include: NDTV car of the year, NDTV two wheeler of the year, car manufacturer of the year, two wheeler manufacturer of the year, CNB viewers' choice car and two wheeler of the year, and automotive man of the year.
To ensure a seamless and transparent selection process, jury members got a hands-on experience of each car and bike at the Buddh International Circuit, along with the nominee’s specifications, its market performance and details on its immediate competition. The jurors then led through a sanitized process filled out their assessment on each nominee and awarded points to all the contending vehicles. The scoring and voting system instituted by the World Car of the Year Awards was used in the selection process.
Ballot voting was conducted in isolation to other jurors and is monitored and organised by auditors Ernst and Young.
