Yamaha YZF-R3 named as the Indian Motorcycle of the Year 2016

The Indian auto industry’s most definitive awards, recognising the country’s best car and motorcycle of the year are back. The movers and shakers who took away the coveted awards this year are Hyundai Creta and Yamaha YZF-R3. In this article we will talk about the Indian Motorcycle of the Year 2016. The Indian Motorcycle of the Year (IMOTY) is the recognition of the finest and best performing motorcycle launched in the last one year.

Dr. Raghupati Singhania, Chairman & Managing Director, JK Tyre & Industries Limited, Bob Rupani, Chairman ICOTY 2016 and Aspi Bhathena, Chairman, IMOTY 2016, presented the Indian Motorcycle of the Year trophy to the Yamaha Motor Company on behalf of the jury of IMOTY 2016.

This year, the final short list of contenders saw a dozen cars and motorcycles battling it out for two of the automobile industry’s highest honours. The chosen ones were then put through a further round of assessment by the jury members at Lonavla on 4th December 2015. After a strenuous session of evaluation followed by voting, the top three contenders for the Indian Motorcycle of the Year awardwere the Yamaha R3, Benelli TNT 300 and Honda CBR650F. The nominated motorcycles were judged on various parameters such as price, fuel economy, styling, comfort, safety, performance, practicality, and technical innovation, value for money and suitability for Indian riding conditions.

Aspi Bhatena, Chairman, IMOTY 2016 commented on the winning motorcycle, “IMOTY 2016 has been one of the toughest awards for the Jury in the last eight years as we had lot of very good motorcycles launched during 2015 but most of them were priced on the high side unlike 2014 where the Harley Davidson street 750 was priced at Rs 4.5 lakhs.”

New Suzuki Baleno (Maruti YRA) to debut on September 15; new images released

The all-new Suzuki Baleno will make its world premiere at the 66th IAA Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2015. Previewed by the iK-2 Concept, which made its debut at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show in March, the new Baleno will come to India in early-2016 (tentative) as a premium hatchback (codename – YRA) positioned above the Swift. The new Baleno will be sold through Maruti’s new premium Nexa dealerships, although it remains to be seen if the maker retains the Baleno name for India.

Exterior highlights include a V-shaped grille, upswept headlamp clusters featuring a L-shaped LED signature, a swooping roofline, blacked out A-pillars, a sharply raked rear screen, a chrome strip on the tail gate, LED tail lamps and 16-inch, 8-spoke alloy wheels. The new Baleno’s interiors will feature an all black theme, with brushed silver finished accents, a 7-inch touch-screen infotainment system, automatic climate control, keyless entry, leather seats and dual air-bags. Full details and spy images here.

To be based on a rigid, lightweight new generation platform, the new Baleno will be powered by a 1.0-litre direct-injection turbo BOOSTERJET petrol engine, along with SHVS (Smart Hybrid Vehicle by Suzuki) – like on the Ciaz – featuring engine assist by an integrated starter generator. Further details of the Baleno will be disclosed at the Suzuki press conference at the Frankfurt Motor show on 15th September. The new Baleno will be launched in the UK early next Summer.