New Delhi: Kinetic's four-stroke 'wonder-scooter' Kinetic Nova has won the prestigious NID-Businessworld award from excellence in automobile design. This is the third award in a row for the Nova - it had won Scooter of the Year awards from auto expert magazines Overdrive and Business Standard Motoring.

The award was given by an independent panel of juries after taking into consideration several design factors such as the customer need satisfied by the product, rider safety and comfort, aesthetic appeal, ease of use, technical specifications and marketplace acceptance.

Says Kinetic Motor chairman Arun Firodia: "I am very proud and happy that my Nova has been given the design excellence award by highly eminent organisations such as the NID and Businessworld. The market has expressed its confidence in the scooter and the experts have given their thumbs up too. The Nova showcases our product development capability, and matches or betters the competition on every single parameter including styling, performance, utility and economy - so it deserved to and has all awards this year."

Kinetic considers design to be the fundamental to sound automobile engineering. It has a full-fledged design department with specialised designers from design schools such as the NID and access to advanced 3D automobile design software The designers are encouraged to participate in market research and also to visit global automotive fairs.

Designers are also given freedom to play around and create products, which may be outside the norms of production so that they can experiment and create concept vehicles, which may or may not be applied to a final product. The design team is supported by a complete tool room with state of the art prototyping facilities, and has an open door to Firodia to discuss any ideas at any stage, and any time.

Launched nationwide in end 2002, Kinetic Nova features an advanced new 115cc four-stroke engine - the most powerful engine in the modern scooters segment with 7.2 bhp of power. The company has sold 40,000 Nova.

The company recently announced a two-year warranty for the Nova, making it the first for the scooter segment in the country. The Nova is already being exported to Latin America and South Asia, and the company will soon complete homologation for Europe, the US and Australia.

Pune-based Kinetic Motor Company is India's pioneer in gearless scooters. Kinetic makes a range of scooters from 65cc to 115cc engines and contemporary styling with popular brand names like the Nova, Zoom, Zing and the Marvel.