TMSEp203: SUV market, Cannes Ad fest 2022, fund-raising, data anonymisation

A cursory glance at any parking lot, or a look at any traffic jam is enough to suggest the trend. Muscular SUVs are increasingly overshadowing sedans and hatchbacks. From 18% in 2016 to 48% in 2022, the rise of SUVs in India has been quick and phenomenal. While sedan’s market share has touched 10%. So why have SUVs become the preferred choice for the aspirational Indian middle class? Is it more breathing space, raised ground clearance and affordable prices? Or is it a global trend? Or all of them? Where is India's SUV market headed from here? And how auto companies are meeting this demand? 

Did you know that India got its first car -- the humble Maruti 800 -- in 1983, the same year Kapil Dev lifted the maiden cricket world cup trophy. Recently, legendary cricketer Kris Srikkanth described winning the world cup as “independence day for cricket in India”, which he said changed the face of Indian cricket forever. Now, 2022 might have given Indian advertising its own ‘1983 moment’, with the country’s agencies having their best outing ever at the week-long Cannes Ad fest 2022. So how this milestone was achieved? 

Unlike the auto and advertisement segments, India’s stock market is passing through rough weather. So will the uncertainty in the secondary markets and rising interest rates impact the fund raising plans of India Inc.? Here is s a quick check on what analysts believe

After the markets, let us move on to the world of data. A top Google executive recently said that frequent and large-scale sharing of citizen data-- even if it is anonymised -- can compromise users’ privacy. It came against the backdrop of the release of a draft data policy by the government, which talks about sharing of anonymised data. So what exactly is anonymised data and why has it triggered debate? Listen too this episode of the podcase for this explaination and more.