- Arvind's Newsletter
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- Arvind's Newsletter
1.India multitude of markets: A new class of Indian consumers are lapping up local/regional consumer brands, challenging the growth of national FMCG firms, The Economic Times reports.
Dropping commodity prices helped local manufacturers cut prices and gain market share in categories like masalas, detergents, and even packaged noodles.
Research firm Redseer says an emerging ‘mass’ consumer class is picking cheaper, local alternatives to big brands. This class is expected to be the fastest growing and account for 65% of India’s retail market by 2030.
When compared to the year-ago period, volume growth in local brands is 12.7%, which is ahead of the 8.5% growth clocked by national brands, while regional and unbranded players de-grew.
Meanwhile, rich Indians are splurging on all things fine. High-end goods such as Scotch whiskey, premium smartphones and TVs, and luxury soaps and shampoos are selling faster than affordable products. Sales of cars priced under ₹10 lakh are falling with rising consumer inflation, but expensive ones are selling steady.
2.Maruti Suzuki reported strong financial performance in Q1 2024 on the back of a market share of approximately 20% in the SUV segment, supported by a robust product lineup. It also attained leadership in the price segment of INR 10-20 lakh. Maruti continued to be the largest exporter of passenger vehicles from India, exporting around 63,000 units.
The company plans to increase their annual production capacity to about 4 million cars by 2030-31, nearly double the current levels.
Maruti Suzuki also gets board's nod to buy Suzuki Motor Gujarat from Suzuki Motor Corp. Maruti will take over EV production at the Gujarat site, replacing Suzuki Motor Corporation. The acquisition of the facility is expected to be completed by the end of FY24. The battery plant is not part of the transaction as yet, but could be considered at a later date.
3.India has 3682 tigers, home to 75 per cent of global numbers, up from 2967 in 2018
With a 50 per cent increase in the last four years, Madhya Pradesh has the maximum number (785) of tigers in the country, followed by Karnataka (563), Uttarakhand (560), and Maharashtra (444), according to the data.
The number of tigers “within the tiger reserve” is highest in Corbett (260), followed by Bandipur (150), Nagarhole (141), Bandhavgarh (135), Dudhwa (135), Mudumalai(114), Kanha (105), Kaziranga (104), Sundarbans (100), Tadoba (97), Sathyamangalam (85), and Pench-MP (77).
4.End of DVD is approaching ? Disney will stop releasing DVDs and Blu-Rays in Australia and New Zealand. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, out in August, will be the last physical release in the region. Dwindling sales and the growing popularity of streaming services — notably Disney’s own Disney+ — have made physical media increasingly unprofitable. The company has not suggested that other regions will follow suit, but Netflix ended its physical-media delivery service in April, and Australia and New Zealand are often used to try out new policies before they are expanded to the rest of the world. But maybe not. Remember Vinyl discs had a near death experience and our reviving.
5.The world’s largest accounting firms are fighting to block new rules in the US that would force them to take more responsibility for rooting out fraud at the companies they audit.
With days to go before the end of a consultation period on the proposal from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, they are trying to sign up their clients to oppose the plan, saying that audit fees will soar if the changes go through.
The PCAOB’s new rules would widen auditors’ responsibility to scrutinise whether a company is complying with laws and regulations, and to communicate more of their concerns to a company’s board of directors.
The proposal comes amid frustration in Washington that audit firms are not living up to their duty to protect investors from wrongdoing by their clients.
The Center for Audit Quality, a group representing audit firms led by the Big Four of Deloitte, PwC, EY and KPMG, is asking corporate directors to sign on to a letter attacking the plan.
“Auditors are not lawyers and as a result the proposed amendments would expand the auditor’s role to include knowledge and expertise outside their core competencies,” according to the letter. “The proposal will substantially increase the cost of the audit without a commensurate benefit.”
