KATHMANDU: Third-gen Hyundai i20 has won the Indian Car of the Year (ICOTY) 2021 award.

The Hyundai i20 took the top prize with a score of 104 points from the jury.

Following it at a close second place was the Kia Sonet with 91 points and the third-place winner was the Mahindra Thar with 78 points.

The Tata Nexon EV took top honors in its category with 106 points, the Hyundai Kona followed in second with 99 points and the MG ZS EV in third with 93 points. As for the premium car winner, the Land Rover Defender scored 108 points, followed by the Mercedes-Benz GLE at some distance with 77 points and the BMW 2 Series with 61 points.

The new i20 measures 3,995 mm in length, 1,775 mm in width, 1,505 mm in height and its wheelbase is 2,580 mm. Boot capacity is 311 liters.

The car features a completely redesigned exterior with a front that bears resemblance to the Verna facelift. It gets LED projector headlamps with LED DRLs, projector fog lamps and 16-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels. At the rear, it gets LED tail lamps that look quite striking. Hyundai has dropped the ‘Elite’ prefix for the i20.

On the inside, the car comes with a 10.24-inch floating touchscreen infotainment head-unit with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity and a 7-speaker Bose audio system. It has a 4-spoke steering wheel similar to what you get in the Venue.

The car is also equipped with a digital instrument cluster and comes with Hyundai’s Bluelink connected car technology that offers 50 connected car features including voice commands, OTA map updates, remote engine start, speed alert, remote climate control, stolen vehicle tracking and geo-fencing.

The i20 is offered with three engine options. These include 1.0L turbocharged petrol, a 1.2-liter naturally-aspirated petrol and a 1.5-liter turbocharged diesel engine. A 7-speed DCT and a clutchless Intelligent Manual Transmission (iMT) are available with the 1.0-liter turbocharged petrol engine that makes 118 BHP @ 6,000 rpm and 172 Nm @ 1,500-4,000 rpm. Hyundai claims that the turbo petrol motor paired with the 7-speed DCT helps accelerate the car from 0-100 km/h in 9.9 seconds. It delivers 20.25 km/l.

The 1.2-liter naturally aspirated petrol engine puts out 82 BHP @ 6,000 rpm (88 BHP with the CVT) and 115 Nm @ 4,200 rpm. This engine comes with a 5-speed manual transmission or CVT automatic. The claimed fuel economy is 20.35 km/l and 19.65 km/l respectively.

The 1.5-liter diesel engine produces 99 BHP @ 4,000 rpm and 240 Nm @ 1,500-2,750 rpm. It is offered only with a 6-speed manual transmission. The claimed fuel economy is 25.2 km/l.

The new i20 is available in 8 color options – Polar White, Typhoon Silver, Starry Night, Copper Metallic, Titan Grey, Fiery Red. It also comes in two dual tone options – Polar White with Black Roof and Fiery Red with Black Roof. There are two interior color packs as well – Black with Copper inserts and Black with Red inserts.