The consortium of 14 top automobile journalist has elected the Hyundai's Creta SUV as the 'Indian car of the year' (ICOTY) for 2016 at an event held in Delhi on 18 December.

In the 11th edition of the ICOTY, 10 cars launched in 2015 made it to the final round. The top five contenders, which battled it out, were the Hyundai Creta, Maruti Suzuki Baleno, Renault Kwid, Honda Jazz and Ford Figo Aspire. The Hyundai Creta scored 96 points, leaving behind the Maruti Suzuki Baleno with 85 points and the Renault Kwid with 71 points. The Ford Figo Aspire received 36 points and the Honda Jazz 32 points.

The parameters for the selection included a number of factors such as price, fuel efficiency, styling, comfort, safety, features, performance, practicality, technical innovation, value for money and suitability to Indian road conditions.

The Creta SUV, launched on 21 July, has become a success for the Korean company with higher sales. The Creta also became the best selling SUV in the first two months of the launch.

Offered in both petrol and diesel engine options, the Creta's 1.6-litre VTVT petrol engine churns out 121bhp and 151Nm of torque. The 1.6 litre CRDI diesel engine is tuned to pump out 126bhp of power and 260Nm of torque. The entire engine is mated to a six-speed manual transmission, while the 1.6-litre CRDi is also available with six-speed automatic transmission.

The Hyundai Creta 1.6 petrol engine offers a fuel efficiency of 15.29 kmpl, while the 1.4 diesel and 1.6 diesel engine variants offer 21.38 kmpl and 19.67 kmpl mileage, respectively.

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