Indian Car of the Year (ICOTY) 2021: Here are the nominees
The Indian Car of The Year (ICOTY) 2021 is set to be announced today, February 26. Before this, here's a look at all the cars in the fray for the coveted prize this year. The ICOTY awards are presented to cars in three categories. The first is the main ICOTY award presented to cars manufactured or assembled in India and been on sale in showrooms before November 30 of the previous year. The next award, introduced in 2020 for the first time, is the Premium Car Award by ICOTY. This takes into consideration all premium, performance and luxury cars that cost more than Rs 40 lakh. These include both, locally produced as well as imported car models.  Finally, newly introduced this year is the Green Car Award by ICOTY. This is to recognize environmentally friendly cars and considers both EVs and hybrids.
Honda City
Hyundai Aura
Hyundai Creta
Hyundai i20
Kia Carnival
Kia Sonet
Mahindra Thar
MG Gloster
Tata Altroz
2021 Premium Car Award by ICOTY contenders
Audi A8
Audi Q2
Audi Q8
BMW 2 Series
BMW 8 Series
Land Rover Defender
Lexus LC 500h
Mercedes-AMG GT 4-door
Mercedes-Benz GLE
Mercedes-Benz GLS
Porsche Cayenne Coupe
2021 Green Car Award by ICOTY contenders
Hyundai Kona
Lexus ES 300h
Mercedes-Benz EQC
MG ZS EV
Tata Nexon EV
Toyota Camry Hybrid
These contenders are judged by a panel of experienced automotive journalists from the biggest publications in the country, which also includes OVERDRIVE. Editor Bertrand D'Souza and consulting editor Bob Rupani are part of the ICOTY jury this year. Heading the juror's panel is Yogendra Pratap, editor at Auto Today. Other members are Rahul Ghosh, associate editor, Auto Today; Dhruv Behl, editor at AutoX, Ishan Raghava, associate editor at AutoX; Aspi Bhatena, editor of Car India and Bike India; Sarmad Kadiri, executive editor at Car India and Bike India; Sirish Chandran, editorial director of Evo India and Fast Bikes India; Annirudha Rangnekar, contributing editor at Evo India; Pablo Chaterji, executive editor at Motoring World; Kartik Ware, managing editor at Motoring World; Muralidhar Swaminathan, consulting motoring editor at Hindu Businessline; Vikrant Singh, editor at Carwale, Bikewale and CarTrade; Kushan Mitra, managing editor at The Pioneer, Girish Karkera, consulting editor at Times Auto and Kranti Sambhav, editor and lead at Times Drive.
In 2020, the Hyundai Venue won the ICOTY award and the G20 BMW 3 Series won the Premium Car Award by ICOTY.