Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 has won the Indian Motorcycle of the Year or the IMOTY for 2019. IMOTY is the most prestigious award given out in the Indian two-wheeler industry. This year, the Interceptor 650 won the top honours by a landslide. The Yamaha YZF-R15 and the TVS Apache RR 310 finished second and third, respectively. The TVS Apache RTR 160 finished a surprisingly close fourth.
This is the 12th year for the IMOTY. And, like in 2018, the IMOTY 2019 too had 16 of India's renowned motorcycle journalists voting for the award. This year's jury consisted of Rahul Ghosh and Abhik Das (Auto Today), Arup Das and Jared Solomon (AutoX), Aspi Bhathena and Sarmad Kadiri (Bike India), Sirish Chandran and Aninda Sardar (evo India), Pablo Chaterji (Man's World India), Kartik Ware and Raunak Ajinkya (Motoring World), Shubhabrata Marmar and Abhay Verma (Overdrive), Devesh Shobha and Debabrata Sarkar (Top Gear India), and Vikrant Singh (BikeWale).
This year, the shortlist included 12 motorcycles. And the jury judged the finalists on parameters including design, value for money, technical innovation, build quality, fuel economy, performance, practicality, and above all, suitability for Indian riding conditions.
On behalf of the esteemed Jury of IMOTY 2019, Dr. Raghupati Singhania, Chairman & Managing Director, JK Tyre & Industries Limited handed over the Indian Motorcycle of the Year trophy to Siddhartha Lal, CEO, Royal Enfield. The Chairman of the IMOTY Jury, Shubhabrata Marmar, meanwhile presented a winners certificate signed by all ‘Jury Members’ of IMOTY 2019 to Royal Enfield.
IMOTY is an expert and independent judgment of the best new bike and the award has been getting increasing prominence with each passing year. JK Tyre has been sponsoring the IMOTY award ceremony since its inception.
