[sahil1010]

Not allowed to vote currently but if i were my vote would have gone to Nexon EV. While it still has its range issue i believe its a great start for an Indian Brand which focuses on safety as well. Hopefully its a great start to better, affordable and equally safe EVs to come.

[anumod]

Voted for Magnite. This car has brought up the value for Money Factor to a new level. The CSUV will have a tough fight with this pricing. With this pricing, Venue and Sonet are appearing to be heavily overpriced.

[Axe77]

I think its very easy to say the Thar here for all the reasons most BHPians will come up with. The Thar is my COTY vote as well.

I would however like to pen a few lines to some very important special mentions here:

1. Tata Nexon EV:

What the Tata has done with the Nexon EV is truly incredible. An indigenous player has make a properly sorted EV offering that one can actually contemplate buying even in this early era of the EV landscape. The car has a lovely ride quality, is spacious, stylish, has excellent back seat comfort, special touches like the Range Rover drive shift which add a nic touch. At 16 lakh rupees it is actually more VFM than a Thar, will tremendous street cred with its green plate, is super economical to run and actually has a decent enough charge range to make for a comfortable city runabout with also the occasional highway run (think Bbay Pune etc) so long as you have charging facilities at the destination. With Starbucks promising to come up with charging points, highway runs should be sorted sooner rather than later. Finally, a high NCAP rating to boot. Take a bow Tata - very well done.

(On a side note, I feel proud that the runway hit is by an Indian player - Mahindra and another Indian company - Tata - warrants a special mention.

2. Kia Carnival

I am IMPRESSED with Kia’s entire approach to India and its launch strategy. Came in an established popular + hot segment but stamped its authority on it convincingly with its debut Seltos.

But what impresses me is their launch of the Carnival. Just a one model old car, it had the balls to launch a bigger, more premium alternative to the “can’t possible go wrong” Innova. Most other players have pussy footed around the Innova territory trying to provide cheaper more economical options (Mahindra, Nissan / Renault / Maruti etc) but no one really took them head on with a plusher more premium offering (indirectly taking on two goliaths - the Innova as well as the Fortuner). It takes guts to launch an MUV at a price that is nearly touching the mighty Fortuner and unabashedly trumping the Innova. Kudos to Kia for bringing such an option into the Indian market when Toyota which has multitude such offerings in its armoury has not bothered to offer such products to Indians despite its long presence in the Indian market.

[sahil624]

I really wanted to vote for the Nissan Magnite because of the genuine effort and the mind-boggling price announced by Nissan. Plus, it looks great too, a really Value for Money product. However, one just cannot ignore another candidate in the poll I.e. Mahindra THAR. The vehicle is just too good to ignore. Thus, my vote for the COTY 2020 goes to the THAR.

[Nilesh5417]

Voted for the Nexon EV.

It's probably the future and it's as close to mass market with a practical EV in SUV guise that anyone has got in India. It's also based on a popular model so looks mainstream (not quirky) and has mainstream features. And it is from an Indian automaker. I know it doesn't go too far yet but am hoping it will in not too distant future.

[vvivek85]

Voted for Creta.

With amount criticism Hyundai faced on the new Creta’s design, one would have thought the car wouldn’t be as successful as last generation. But Hyundai is a genius in understanding the pulse of our customers, the car was an instant hit and the design has grown on me. Hyundai has answered the critics with the sales numbers.

[TrackDay]

Voted for the Honda City

Sedans are on their sunset ride with the SUV's pretty much infiltrating every price bracket. The City, the first proper full on sedan in India might also be the last standing warrior in this battle. After this generation we are not going to see anymore of the sedans (maybe sub 4m might be around, but I don't count those as sedans. No offense to the owners). If the battle is to be won, Only the City can do it and hence my vote.

Pretty much all other cars in the list are also virtuous contenders.

1. Tata Nexon EV : Tata impressed me a lot with this offering in an affordable price bracket. This is the future. The next 800. The EV revolution is here.

2. Nissan Magnite : Again a lone wolf sent out to fight it out blood and tooth for its share in the Indian automobile market. This is a full on product, designed and priced to revive Nissan's glory days.

3. Mahindra Thar : The popular vote. Yes the vehicle and price are perfect. It is what a lot of people were waiting for and it has delivered on both aspects.

Here's hoping all the coming years may flood our market with more and more choices !

[kiran1881]

My vote goes to Mahindra Thar as COTY and thats Hands Down !!
Simply because the car looks great, drives great, impressive job from Mahindra in offering it as a lifestyle product and finally the 4 star GNCAP safety rating.

[peus017]

Voted for Nexon EV

It was a tough choice, with so many nice products being listed.

For me top 3 contenders were Nexon EV, Thar and Carnival each leading in there own segment. Reason to chose Nexon EV was its safe, fun to drive, affordable, peppy, futuristic and caters to mass.

[sgmuser]

This is COTY in India, so, I went for Nexon EV. Either this or Thar. Even though I am personally wish Thar to succeed, I wanted to choose Nexon EV for its ambitious design and execution. Go Go Tata! Kudos to your sincere effort. Thar is still in my shopping list but it may not be a COTY as it copies a lot from JK/JL. Nexon does not, so, in that way, Nexon is an original product/design, considering EV is the FUTURE for automobile!

[Dr.Abhi]

Voted for nexon ev. Well sorted electric vehicle at comparitively vfm price point from indeginous car maker, truly deserves COTY 2020.

[Godzilla]

Voted for the Nissan Magnite. The reason is game changing price. I feel it is one of the best car for a middle class Indian and it does not skimp on features or convenience such as an automatic. It looks great, ample space for family and fits the budget with almost no compromise. Just imagine a customer looking to buy a hatchback can stretch his budget a little to go for a compact SUV. This is truly awesome.

In other words it is a boon to an Indian customer, where the market is filled with expensive top trims and stripped down lower variants.

Also, it is the one of the few sub 10 lakh car with ESP and proper automatic. I really would like Nissan to climb up in sales, as better competition is good for India, else we have to live with fewer options who don’t give a damn about safety.

https://youtu.be/_aX67RLwsTE

[raman.aries]

Voted for Thar. It might not the the most practical car out there for a typical user including me, but seems like the most desirable one of the lot. Impressive looks and proportion, nice interiors and cockpit, rear coil springs, decent petrol and diesel engines with MT and AT transmissions.

[drmohitg]

Voted for the Nissan Magnite even though I know the winner would be the Thar in the end simply because there is nothing else on that list which appeals to your heart more than the Thar. But I voted for the Magnite simply due to the potential disruption it may cause in an already crowded and very competitive segment. And that too from a car maker who has been plagued with so many issues combined with its own lethargic approach. So I am going to give them full credit for their effort here.

Tata Altroz and Nexon EV were the other two cars I considered.

[Napalm]

Voted for Altroz

The top 3 contenders for me were Thar, Nexon-EV and the Altroz.

The Thar is an excellent vehicle for its target market, it’s very good looking, has a surprisingly good crash-safety rating and probably had the best launch of 2020 with so many Variants, engines and gearboxes. But it covers only a niche segment.

IMHO, Nexon-EV is the most underrated success story in the Indian car market and people have not realised how significant this car is going to be( may be we will realise when we look back at it 5 or 10 years down the line). It’s the first relatively affordable modern EV, that is not a compromise over its IC engine sinking in terms of fun-to-drive factor. It’s a starting point of something that is going to revolutionise the entire market in a matter of 5-10 years. Just like Tesla model S was under appreciated when it launched.

But what Altroz has achieved in terms of crash-safety ratings in sub 4 meter, hatchback segment at such a low price-point is just incredible. The first car on this ALFA platform has set the stage for similar 5-star safety future small cars like HBX, next-gen Tiago,Tigor, Nexon(Sierra?) etc.

Last but not the least, the looks of this premium hatchback have floored me. So much so that I have ordered its limited series scale-model on Tata motors website for ₹4K! (Ok, May be I went a little overboard with spending there, but it’s ok). But it just looks smashing from every angle in real life. Photos don’t do justice to its looks.