The Indian Car of the Year Award (ICOTY) is presented annually to the best new car launched in India, and is based on similar other awards such as European Car of the Year. The award was established in 2006, with the Maruti Suzuki Swift winning the first award.
Hyundai has won the award four times, while Maruti Suzuki thrice and Honda have won twice.
Most of the award winning cars have been from Japanese or Korean manufacturers, and are available globally in the same or different guises.
The Hyundai Elite i20 and i10 Grand, for instance, are available in Europe and Japan. The European Renault Duster developed by the Renault engineers, sold worldwide and built in India yet got this award for 2013. The Maruti brand on Suzuki models is exclusive to India. The Honda City is largely restricted to Asian and South American markets, while the Ford Figo is a modified version of the Ford Fiesta that was sold in Europe from 2002 to 2008. The Honda Civic is a global model, although not all versions are sold on every market.