Renault Kwid and Bajaj Pulsar RS 200 the big winners at Autocar India Awards 2016

The Renault Kwid has won the prestigious Autocar India Car of the Year award for 2016, after an exciting awards ceremony attended by the pillars of the automotive industry at the Taj Land’s End hotel in Mumbai on 29 January. Autocar India is Autocar Professional’s sister magazine.

The Kwid also took home the award for ‘Best Hatchback of the Year 2016’. Renault’s newest small car has taken the high-sales-volume budget hatchback segment by storm since its launch in September 2015, serving up class-leading space, comfort and features at an incredibly competitive price. Where the Kwid really breaks the mould, however, is with its SUV-like appearance, unprecedented for a car in its segment. “The Kwid is a true game-changer and comes as a breath of fresh air at the budget end of the car market” said Hormazd Sorabjee, editor, Autocar India.

The Autocar India Bike of the Year 2016 award went to the Bajaj Pulsar RS 200. The Indian motorcycle manufacturer’s current flagship motorcycle also won the Readers’ Choice Bike of the Year award, cementing once again that Bajaj knows what its Indian customers want. The RS 200 won for its combination of striking looks, strong performance and everyday usability, which has been the Pulsar’s core formula since day one.

The Autocar India Awards continue a tradition of recognising excellence that dates back to 2002. The awards are the culmination of weeks of behind-the-scenes work. The eight-member jury scrutinised reams of facts, figures and data generated by Autocar India’s satellite-based road testing equipment. This year’s 23 eligible cars, ranging from a budget hatchback to a luxury limousine to a hybrid sportscar, were then put under put through a rigorous series of tests to evaluate various parameters. The judges awarded points to the cars based on these parameters and the scores were tallied to arrive at a winner in each of the categories.

Behind the Autocar India awards is over a century of learning. Autocar UK, the Indian edition’s sister publication, has been road testing cars since 1895. Autocar has been a part of the European Car of the Year Awards that was established in 1964. The jury for the Autocar India awards comprises internationally recognised jurists serving on several international jury panels like World Car of the Year, International Engine of the Year and World Women’s Car of the Year.