TVS Raider 125 wins 2022 IMOTY title

The dust has finally settled post the jury round for Indian Motorcycle of the Year or IMOTY 2022 held at the BIC earlier this month, and the TVS Raider 125 has been adjudged the winner of the prestigious IMOTY 2022 title at the awards ceremony at the JW Marriott Hotel in Aerocity, New Delhi.

This time around, the 'Oscar' of the Indian motorcycling scene witnessed just six shortlisted bikes, out of a total of nine motorcycles, tussle for the highly coveted prize. The shortlisted bikes included the 250cc Bajaj Pulsar twins; the road-biased, ADV-styled Honda CB200X; the all-new Royal Enfield Classic 350; the 125cc sporty-commuter from TVS, the Raider; and the neo-retro commuter from Yamaha, the FZ-X.

The TVS Raider 125 amassed a perfect century of points, clinching the title 15 points ahead of this year's runner-up, the Royal Enfield Classic  350, while the Pulsar 250 completed the podium with 60points. The TVS Raider 125 effectively takes over the mantle of IMOTY from last year's winner, the Royal Enfield Meteor 350. Aspi Bhathena, president of the IMOTY, and Raghupati Singhania, MD of JK Tyre & Industries were present to hand over the much-sought-after IMOTY trophy to Anniruddha Haldar, VP Marketing at TVS Motor Company.

For those unaware, the IMOTY is the premier award that a two-wheeler that's made or assembled in India can receive. The concept of vehicle qualification is quite simple – motorcycles that were launched between the timeframe of December 2020 to November 2021 can qualify. However, in order to make the final shortlist, the motorcycles in question must have a number of relevant attributes pertaining to the Indian two-wheeler market and set new benchmarks in its respective segment of operation. The motorcycles in contention were assessed on the parameters of styling, value for money, technical innovation, build quality, fuel economy, performance, practicality, and above all, suitability for Indian riding conditions.

The jury for the 2022 IMOTY consists 0f 14 of India's distinguished auto journalists with years of riding experience and motorcycle testing that hand-picked the most deserving motorcycle model. Every jury member has a total of 25 points to award to the motorcycles. The maximum points a juror can give a motorcycle is 10pts, and the jury member must award points to at least five motorcycles. Also, the top two motorcycles cannot be awarded the same points, which means every jury member must decide on one clear winner.

The TVS Raider 125 bagged top honors this year's IMOTY and ICOTY awards alongside the Audi E-Tron (2022 Green Car of the Year), the Mercedes-Benz S-Class (2022 Premium Car of the Year) and the Mahindra XUV700 (2022 ICOTY).

Mahindra XUV700 is the Indian Car of the Year for 2022