Who represents India on the World Car of the Year jury?

Seven Indian motoring journalists currently hold a vote in the World Car of the Year award. One of them chairs the entire global jury. According to the official juror list published on worldcarawards.com, India's jurors are Dhruv Behl, Girish Karkera, Renuka Kirpalani, Hani Musthafa, Yogendra Pratap, Hormazd Sorabjee and Siddharth Vinayak Patankar. That puts India among a small group of countries, alongside the United States, Germany and Japan, that send more than one voter to the panel.

How an Indian journalist earned a seat

World Car Awards was set up in 2003 and officially launched in January 2004, according to its Wikipedia history, as an answer to older regional contests that only judged cars sold in Europe or North America. It built a jury of working motoring journalists from around the world instead.

Patankar, now Editor in Chief of Acko Drive and earlier the man who built carandbike and anchored NDTV's car show, joined that jury in 2011 to represent India. His official World Car Awards profile states he became a Director in 2014, the first Asian to hold that post, served as Vice Chair of the Steering Committee from 2021 to 2023, and has chaired the Steering Committee since 2024. No other Indian juror has held a global leadership post on the panel.

What the panel actually votes on

A car does not qualify for World Car of the Year simply by selling well in India. Wikipedia's entry on the award states that a vehicle must go on sale in at least two major markets on two separate continents before 30 March of the award year. Categories now cover World Car of the Year, World Electric Vehicle, World Luxury Car, World Performance Car, World Urban Car and World Car Design of the Year.

Autocar India's report on the 2026 finalists states that 98 automotive journalists voted that season, with Hormazd Sorabjee representing Autocar India among them. The next season moved fast. Zigwheels Philippines reported that the Road to World Car 2027 opened with 100 international jurors, the award's 23rd season, announced from Toronto in September 2026.

Where India actually shows up on the list

For the 2026 awards, the BMW iX3 won World Car of the Year, Motoring Research reported, while Autocar India's finalist list shows the Hyundai Palisade and Nissan Leaf as runners up in that category. India's clearest moment came in World Urban Car. The Hyundai Venue, now built only in India, finished third in that category behind the Baojun Yep Plus or Chevrolet Spark EUV and the Nio Firefly. It is a small but real sign that a car engineered for Indian roads can stand in a global final.

That is also what separates this award from ICOTY, India's own Car of the Year, which only judges cars sold here. World Car Awards is the one ballot where an Indian journalist's vote can crown a car that most Indian buyers will never see in a showroom, and where a car built in India can be judged against the world. Past winners with an India connection include the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the Kia EV9, both sold here as well as abroad.

For a reader trying to work out why an Indian name keeps turning up in New York each spring when World Car winners are announced, that is the short version. Seven working Indian journalists test cars for this jury every year, and one of them now runs it.

Sources

• World Car Awards juror list by country
• Siddharth Vinayak Patankar juror profile, World Car Awards
• World Car Awards, Wikipedia
• 2026 World Car Awards top 3 finalists announced, Autocar India
• World Car Awards starts 23rd season, Zigwheels Philippines
• World Car Awards is world's no.1 auto awards for 14th year running, Motoring Research