Every January comes that glittering evening when the ultimate automotive awards, the Oscars of the industry, are given away.

This year, the event was held at the Taj Lands End in Mumbai on January 7, where the who's who of the Indian automotive industry made their presence felt.

Among the big winners at this year's awards were the Fiat Linea, which marks the start of a new innings for the Italian carmaker in India. In the motorcycle segment, it was the Yamaha FZ-16 which rode away with the top prize.

Hyundai wins MOTY

Korean manufacturer Hyundai Motor India, won the award for Manufacturer of the Year, due to its varied and significant achievements during the past year. The company doubled its manufacturing capacity in India to 600,000 units per annum in February 2008 with the opening of its second plant at Sriperumbudur near Chennai. Set up at a cost of US$ 1 billion near its existing plant, this investment made Hyundai the second largest car manufacturer in the country.

Hyundai has also taken the lead in making India a global small car manufacturing hub with its i10 and i20 models being made in India for global markets. As a result, Hyundai has also emerged as the largest exporter of passenger cars from India, by a significant margin. In fact it exported over 175,000 cars during April to November 2008, which was more than four times as many as its nearest rival Maruti Suzuki.

Later in the year, the company also inaugurated a 300,000 units per annum engine and transmission plant and started production of the lightweight and hi-tech 1.2-litre Kappa petrol engine. This unit powers both the i10 and i20 models and already meets strict European emission norms.

The i10 also emerged as a huge sales success in 2008, with over 100,000 units being sold from January to November. In December the company launched its stylish new i20 hatchback in the Indian market, just a month after it had started exports of this model to overseas markets.

During 2008, the company achieved the landmark cumulative sales figure of two million units sold in India since it began operations back in 1998. As an indicator of its production efficiency, it also brought down the price of its entry-level Santro model to 1998 levels of Rs 2.9 lakh, making it more affordable for first-time car buyers.

Finally, Hyundai has also managed to increase its market share to 16 percent of the passenger vehicle market during April to November 2008, compared to 13.5 percent in the same period last year. This was despite much tougher competition from its rivals and a decline in overall market demand in the latter part of the year. For all these accomplishments Hyundai is the worthy winner.