Toyota Etios & Honda Twister gets the Car and Bike of the Year: Overdrive Awards 2011

Establishing India's most comprehensive and authoritative awards in the automotive sector, CNBC-TV18, India's No. 1 business medium in association with ICICI Bank Car Loans, India's most preferred financier of car loans and Overdrive, India's No. 1 Car and Bike Magazine honoured India's Finest Automobile Champions at the eleventh edition of the CNBC-TV18 Overdrive Awards 2011. "Toyota Etios' & "Honda Twister' won the Car and Bike of the Year Award at the awards ceremony held recently in the city. The awards aimed at the road ahead for the auto industry with increasing need for green technology and environment conservation.

With sustainability and environment conservation being the need of the hour, automobile manufacturers are under constant pressure to reduce the carbon footprint of their vehicles. CNBC-TV18 Overdrive Awards 2011 reiterated this need for green technology by bringing together all the industry stakeholders on a single platform and highlighting the road ahead for the Indian automobile sector.

The awards witnessed the presence of personalities such as Rajeev Bajaj, President, Bajaj Automobiles; R. C. Bhargava, Chairman, MSIL; Hiroshi Nakagawa, MD, TKM; Capt. Gopinath, Founder, Deccan 360; Dia Mirza and Dino Morea from the Bollywood fraternity, Kiran Bedi, Indian social activist and a retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, Dinesh Kumar, the spectacular sporting star who brought glory to India at CWG and again at the Asian Games and the renowned ad man, Prasoon Joshi.

Speaking on the occasion, Anil Uniyal, CEO, CNBC-TV18 and CNBC AWAAZ said, "Over a period of 11 years, CNBC-TV18 Overdrive Awards has established a benchmark for automotive excellence within the industry. Each year, with the introduction of new award categories, the CNBC-TV18 Overdrive Awards seek to honour those conglomerates which have set an example in automotive engineering by striking a balance between customer satisfaction and environment conservation. Additionally, year on year, we have also awarded a special salutation to either an individual or an organization for their outstanding contribution to the country thereby felicitating their exemplary services. We hope that, through the medium of CNBC-TV18 Overdrive Awards, the winners as well as the nominees continue to set an example of technological advancement not only in India but globally. These awards are core to the DNA of CNBC-TV18 which has always saluted the excellence in business and leadership by honouring those who have taken India global."

Adding further, Rajiv Sabharwal, Executive Director, ICICI Bank Ltd., said, "It's our pleasure at ICICI bank to be a partner in the Overdrive Awards. We've worked with CNBC-TV118 over the last five years to bring these awards, and with each passing year, we've felt even more proud of this association. I think what is special this year, is that we've also added the initiative, and have got Go green as sponsors for this event."

He added, "India is experiencing growth across sectors. The 30% growth that we are seeing in the auto sector, the 32% growth we are seeing in the commercial vehicle space, or the 17-18% we are seeing in the two-wheeler space, is all contributed by the strong growth in the per capita income. If we factor in what is happening today, we believe that it is very much possible for this growth to grow from 1000$ to 2000$ industry."

"As far as ICICI bank is concerned, we've been strong contributors to the growth of the consumers, by lending to individuals. Over the last decade or so, we've lent for over 2.2million cars, and sanctioned almost around 75,000Crores in the auto industry. We believe that all this has been a small contributor to the robust growth that we are now seeing today including the fact that the rural and semi-urban sectors are contributing more today than it has done in the past."

"At ICICI Bank, we are very keen to support technology that is more fuel efficient, we've been partners with people who have developed vehicles that are more fuel efficient and we are happy to work with them, so we can create financing options which are more feasible for all of us. We at ICICI bank would be happy to partner with you to make sure that we make this opportunity an even larger one."

More so, Sirish Chandran, Editor, Overdrive said, "OVERDRIVE has represented the forefront of Indian automotive passion, adventure on wheels and the most definitive automotive testing and comparison tests. Our commitment to our role as the flag bearer for automotive publishing and content in the Indian market remains steadfast and as we complete 13 years in the business we renew our pledge to meet and exceed the expectations of the Indian enthusiast and to be unwaveringly honest in our evaluations of cars and motorcycles for the buyer. OVERDRIVE was the first to institute awards for Indian automotive excellence and today these awards are recognized as the most definitive, credible and coveted awards in the industry."