Maruti Swift Wins The Indian Car Of The Year (ICOTY 2019) Award

The previous winner of the title (ICOTY 2018) was the Hyundai Verna. For ICOTY 2019 awards, the Maruti Swift had to compete against seven newly-introduced cars of the ending year.

This includes the Hyundai Santro, Maruti Ertiga, Honda Amaze, Toyota Yaris, Mahindra Marazzo, Mahindra Alturas G4 and Honda CR-V. In the latest car sales report, the Maruti Swift has also become thetop-selling cars in India.

The 14th edition of the ICOTY awards had a bench of 18 senior automotive journalists, with a total work experience of close to 300 years. The ICOTY 2019 award was handed over to Kenichi Ayukawa, MD & CEO of Maruti Suzuki, by the Chairman & MD of JK Tyres, Dr Raghupati Singhania, who is an esteemed member of the jury.

Coming to the winner, the 2018 Maruti Swift was launched at Rs 4.99 lakh ex-showroom (Delhi), and is available in both petrol and diesel formats (with manual and automatic options). The prices go all the way up to Rs 8.76 lakh for the top-trim diesel-AMT variant.

Based on the newly-developed HEARTECT platform (the same which underpins the new Maruti Ertiga), the 2018 Swift is lighter and more dynamic. Compared to the previous model, the aesthetics have also been revamped.

Powering the latest Maruti Swift is either a 1.2-litre petrol engine or a 1.3-litre diesel. The petrol engine makes 83bhp and 113Nm of torque, while the diesel makes 74bhp and 190Nm. This is further mated to a five-speed manual or its AMT unit.

Thoughts On Maruti Swift Winning ICOTY 2019

The third-generation Maruti Swift was one of the most important launches of the year, and everyone had only good to say about it. It was almost sure that only the Swift will be the winner of ICOTY 2019, while some had high hopes for the Honda Amaze and Hyundai Santro. However, Maruti Suzuki's excellent brand image in the country has worked out well. What do you think of this year's ICOTY winner? Let us know in the comment section below.