ACKO Drives Brings Out the 3rd Annual ACKO Drive Awards: The One That Matters

National, January 30, 2025: 

ACKO Drive is excited to announce the third edition of the TOTMs, The One That Matters (#TOTM), its annual awards programme for the Indian automobile industry. This year the TOTMs are taking place for the first time in Pune on January 31 and February 1. The 2025 edition of the ACKO Drive Awards continues a tradition established last year of holding a two-day event that recognises various aspects of the industry. The TOTMs continue to set new benchmarks in the industry as India’s most credible automotive awards, celebrating excellence across various categories from vehicles to technological innovations and even media strategy. Pune was chosen to honour the city’s incredible industrial legacy and pioneer status in the automobile manufacturing history of India.

Continuing our mission to bring Indian audiences our honest, transparent opinions, each TOTM winner is decided by a jury made up of industry stalwarts. There are three separate juries for the car, bike and communications categories. As always, the jurors bring their own unique experiences, skills, and perspectives to the particular categories they are evaluating. Cars and bikes across all segments and price bands were tested hands-on at dedicated jury meets held at the Buddh International Circuit, with the jury evaluating them for technology, innovation, reliability, safety, and performance. At the communications awards, a distinguished panel goes through the year’s many advertising, marketing, public relations, messaging, and other campaigns.

Winners will be announced across both days of the event, with multiple categories including the 2025 ACKO Drive Car of the Year and Bike of the Year, the 2025 Car Manufacturer of the Year and Bike Manufacturer of the Year, the 2025 EV Car and EV Bike, and of course the 2025 Viewers’ Choice Car and Viewers’ Choice Bike awards. ACKO Drive also recognises people who have pushed boundaries in their fields, with TOTMs for the 2025 Business Leader of the year and 2025 Jagdish Khattar Rising Star Award. The communications jury chooses the Best Creative Film, Best Integrated Campaign, and Best Use of AI in Marketing/Sales across cars and bikes, among other awards.

Jury members

• Product Jury (for cars and bikes): Jens Meiners, founder of German Car of the Year 

• Dr V Sumantran, senior engineer and industry veteran 

• Siddharth Vinayak Patankar, Editor-in-Chief - Acko Drive and Chairman, World Car Awards 

• Gul Panag, automobile enthusiast, biker and actor

• Hani Musthafa, Chief Editor, Flywheel

• Rayomand Banajee, racer and mentor  

• Steve Fowler, award-winning auto journalist and consultant 

• Aishwarya Pissay, off-road motorcycle racer 

• Anand Dharmaraj, track instructor and former racer 

• Ameya Naik, Executive Editor - ACKO Drive 

• Arun Mohan Nadar, Senior Editor - Bikes - ACKO Drive

Communications Jury: 

• Ashish Chakravarty, Executive Director and India Head of Creative - McCann Worldgroup

• Rohit Ohri, former Group CEO and Chairman, FCB Group India

• Anita Sharma, automotive marketing and PR veteran

• Ashish Mishra, Chief Marketing Officer – ACKO

• Nikhil Chawla, auto and tech creator

• Siddharth Vinayak Patankar, Editor-in-Chief - ACKO Drive

• Suparna Singh, CEO and Co-Founder, Frammer AI

• Yogendra Pratap, Editor-in-Chief - Auto Today

ACKO Drive is proud to be associated with HP Lubricants as the Lubricant Partner, IDFC First Bank as the Banking Partner, YouTube as the Media Partner, LG OLED as the Technology Partner, Laqshya Media Group as the Outdoor Partner, Grant Thornton Bharat as the Knowledge Partner, KYT as the Safety Partner, and HopCharge as the Charging Partner for the 2025 ACKO Drive Awards.

Media contact:

Shirsha Majumder | shirsha.majumder@acko.com