Winners
of first 'NDTV Profit Car India & Bike India
Awards 2006' are:
Maruti Suzuki Swift
makes clean sweep in Car category
Hero Honda Achiever in Bike category
New
Delhi, January 13, 2006:
Next Gen Publishing Ltd.,
a Forbes Group and HDFC Ltd. Enterprise,
which publishes CarIndia & BikeIndia (the
only dedicated car and bike magazines in
the country) and NDTV Profit recognized
excellence in automotive industry by hosting
the 'NDTV Profit CarIndia & BikeIndia Awards
2006'. The awards were presented last evening
at a gala event in Delhi and attended by
eminent personalities of the automotive
industry including Mr. Pawan Munjal, Managing
Director & CEO of Hero Honda Motors, Jagdish
Khattar, Managing Director of Maruti Udyog
Ltd, Rajiv Bajaj of Bajaj Auto, Dilip Chenoy,
President SIAM, Rajeev Chaba of General
Motors, R L Ravichandran of Royal Enfield,
among others.
Awards for Cars & bikes
were presented in 9 & 6 distinct categories,
and there was stiff competition in all of
them. But the two most eagerly awaited categories
were the Automobile of the Year
and Motorcycle of the year, which
was won by;
Automobile
of the Year: Maruti Suzuki swift
In this category, the
nominated cars were Maruti Suzuki Swift,
Toyota Innova, Ford Fiesta, Skoda Laura,
Hyundai Sonata Embera and Hyundai Tucson.
Motorcycle
of the Year: Hero Honda Achiever
In this category, the
nominated bikes were LML CRD 100, Hero Honda
Glamour and Hero Honda Achiever .
The judging for the awards
was done by an eminent panel namely Dr.
V.Sumantran, Aspi Bhathena, Hari Singh,
Rayomand Banajee, Sam Katgara, Sudheer Sharma,
Sameer Kumar, H S Billimoria, Ben Oliver,
Siddharth Patankar, Adil Darukhanawala,
Pawan Sabharwal and Kranti Sambhav.
The jury members tested
the cars and the bikes on a customized stretch
of 25 kms in Pune. Vehicles in each category
were tested for their overall design and
packaging, their advances in creature comforts,
occupant comfort, safety, mechanicals, their
associated performance and the dynamic ability
of the vehicle (ride, handling, braking,
etc).
Speaking on the occasion,
Mr. Hoshang S. Billimoria, CEO, Next Gen
Publishing Ltd. said, "We have received
a very enthusiastic response from readers
of CarIndia & BikeIndia magazines. We wanted
to join hands with a credible partner to
recognize excellence in the automotive industry.
We are happy to have tied-up with NDTV as
they have a good understanding of the Indian
auto industry, which reflects in their Car
& Bike Show. These awards are the best media
representation our readers/viewers can have
on the automobile sector."
Mr. Vikram Chandra, Managing
Editor, NDTV Profit shared the same sentiments
about the partnership.
The jury for the
entire process comprised of the following
people:
Dr. V. Sumantran
is the greatest automobile engineer the
country has ever seen and also one of its
biggest enthusiasts. Dr. Sumantran's rich
experience includes a stint with GM in the
USA. Dr Sumantran had been Executive Director,
Passenger Car Business Unit at Tata Motors.
Aspi Bhathena
is the most qualified and experienced road
tester in the Indian automotive magazine
world. Aspi has ability that can take a
car to unheard of heights in all areas -
performance, handling, fuel efficiency,
etc.
Hari Singh
is the finest rallyist of his generation
and the first Indian rally driver to have
won an FIA sanctioned rally championship.
This five-time Indian National Rally Champion
possesses car craft of the highest order,
while he is the Most sought after test engineer
in the international automotive world.
Rayomand Banajee
was Indian National Champion in karts in
2003 and 2004, Indian National Racing Champion
in 2004 and also in 2005 and won the FIA
Gymkhana event recently in Taiwan. He is
one of the select few who have beaten Narain
Karthikeyan in equal machinery.
Sam Katgara
is the Former ace rallyist and racer from
Bombay, Sam Katgara, is the epitome of the
gentleman racer. Stylish, precise and deft
in his handling of cars on any type of surface
- tarmac or off it, he has the finest appraisal
qualities that only comes across by his
driving all sorts of cars over all sorts
of terrain the world over.
Sudheer Sharma
is the Founder director and CEO of the one
of the best known industrial design firms,
Elephant Design.
Sameer
was former editor of Indian Auto after which
he had a stint with BS Motoring followed
by a year and half as Executive Editor at
Auto Monitor before he joined Next Gen Automotive
as Executive Editor. He is a keen motorcycle
buff.
H S Billimoria,
CEO, Next Gen Publishing Ltd. A life-long
car enthusiast to boot, HSB, as he is affectionately
termed, is a no-nonsense evaluator of cars,
not just from behind the steering wheel
but also when perched in the rear seats.
Ben Oliver,
One of the leading stars in the European
automotive magazine world, Ben has been
features editor and also one of the top
car evaluators for CAR magazine in the UK,
plus many others in the rest of the world.
Siddharth Patankar,
The most photogenic face among the automotive
presenters on Indian television and also
a motoring guy to boot, Siddharth has been
anchoring the CAR & BIKE SHOW on NDTV since
inception.
Adil Darukhanawala,
is the most experienced automotive journalist
in the country. Having started writing on
cars and bikes in 1975, he was former editor
of CAR & BIKE INTERNATIONAL magazine till
1998. He then went on to head OVERDRIVE
magazine, launching it in September 1998
and guiding it till April 2005. August 2005
onwards, he became the Editor-in-chief of
Next Gen Publishing Ltd.
Pawan Sabharwal,
Marketing chief at Subros Auto Airconditioning
Systems and the prime mover from our event
sponsor, Pawan knows the automotive industry
in an intrinsic manner, having dealt with,
and continuining to do so, with all our
four-wheeler automotive OEMs.
Kranti Sambhav,
the face of RAFTAAR, the Hindi-language
edition of NDTV's CAR & BIKE SHOW, Kranti
Sambhav brings with him a youthful aspect
to motoring on Indian TV.
The NDTV - CAR
INDIA AWARDS 2006:
| AUTOMOBILE OF THE YEAR |
MARUTI SUZUKI SWIFT
Jagdish Khattar - Chairman & MD & team |
| Small Car of the Year |
MARUTI SUZUKI SWIFT
Jagdish Khattar - Chairman & MD & team |
| Mid-size Sedan of the
Year |
FORD FIESTA
V Sivaramakrishnan |
| Executive Car of the
Year |
SKODA LAURA
Frank Lucas - MD, Skoda India |
| MPV of the Year |
TOYOTA INNOVA
Mr. Inno - ED - Marketing |
| SUV of the Year |
HYUNDAI TUCSON
Arvind Saxena - GM - Marketing |
| Safety & Technology
Award |
MICO BOSCH
Dr. Albert Hieronimus, MD - Mico Bosch
India |
| Motor Sport Award |
MRF LTD
Mr. Vijay Arora, GM - Passenger cars
unit |
| CAR MAKER of the Year |
HONDA SIEL CARS INDIA
LTD
Mr. Masahiro Takedagawa - CEO and MD
|
THE NDTV BIKE
INDIA AWARDS 2006:
| MOTORCYCLE OF THE YEAR |
HERO HONDA ACHIEVER
Pawan Kant Munjal - MD, Hero Honda Motors
|
| Bike upto 100 cc of
the Year |
LML CRD
MR. P S Ashok - GM - R& D and Engineering
|
| Bike upto 125 cc of
the Year |
HERO HONDA GLAMOUR
R Sundar, GM - Marketing |
| Bike upto 150 cc of
the Year |
HERO HONDA ACHIEVER
Deepak Mokashi, GM - National Sales
|
| Indigenous Design |
LML LTD
MR. P S Ashok - GM - R& D and Engineering
|
| BIKE MAKER |
HERO HONDA MOTORS LTD
Pawan Kant Munjal |
VIEWER'S CHOICE
AWARD-
CAR OF THE YEAR |
MARUTI SUZUKI SWIFT
Jagdish Khattar - Chairman & MD & team |
VIEWERS CHOICE
AWARD-
MOTORCYCLE OF THE YEAR |
HERO HONDA GLAMOUR
Pawan Kant Munjal - MD, Hero Honda Motors
|
| Automotive Man
of the Year |
RAJIV BAJAJ |
The 'NDTV Profit CarIndia
& BikeIndia Awards 2006' will be telecast
on NDTV Profit at 10:30 pm, Saturday, 21st
January'06 & at 4 pm, Sunday, 22nd January'06
About Next Gen
Publishing Ltd.
Next Gen Publishing Ltd.
(NGPL) has been jointly setup by The Forbes
Group and HDFC Limited to offer the best
in the field of print publishing through
niche / special interest magazines and other
print products. NGPL plans to become a leading
content generation company. Starting its
operations in January 2005, NGPL has already
launched Smart Photography, a classy niche
photography magazine, Forbes Yellow Pages
in Ahmedabad and New Delhi in full colour
with CD and Internet versions - supported
by SMS for the first time in India, Car
India & Bike India for automobile enthusiasts
and in this month they launched their fourth
magazine, Computer Active.
NGPL is managed by its
CEO, Mr. Hoshang S. Billimoria, who was
formerly Vice Chairman and Managing Director
of Tata Infomedia Ltd. and has over 14 years
experience in the publishing and printing
industry. Mr. Billimoria was responsible
for starting the Directory and Magazine
publishing business at Tata Infomedia, where
he was instrumental in the Company's turnaround
from a loss making printing company to a
successful publishing company.
About NDTV:
New Delhi Television is,
and has been for the last 18 years, a pioneer
in Indian television news. NDTV broadcasts
three channels, NDTV 24x7, NDTV India and
NDTV Profit and is India's largest News
Network. NDTV's team of professional journalists
includes India's best-known faces on television,
a team that has won a large number of international
awards, including India's first-ever international
Emmy award. As an organization, NDTV is
totally committed to one cause: to use its
experience, expertise, technology and reach
to create unparalleled coverage of the latest
in domestic and international news and entertainment
for viewers at home and around the world.
NDTV Profit hosts the
finest motoring programme on Indian TV,
the 'Car & Bike Show' anchored by Siddharth
Patankar and Kranti Sambhav is the face
of 'Raftaar' the Hindi-language edition
of 'Car & Bike Show.
For more
information please contact :
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