Maruti Suzuki's new avatar, PharmEasy's new dilemma, bull run at Dalal Street, are some of the stories that piqued the interest of our readers this week
1) Mark-up and deliverThere is a movie titled Stand and Deliver in which Edward James Olmos’ character Jaime Escalante disrupts the rotting education system to ignite hope in students from working-class families with defeated mindsets. In this story, we look at the reality of ‘Mark-up and Deliver’ of food-tech giants Zomato and Swiggy, two players that disrupted life as we know it. Food delivery aggregators are squeezing restaurants, which are, in-turn, off-loading the burden of aggregator commissions, discounts, and government taxes on consumers. And there is no Jaime Escalante from consumer activism to turn around and say that he is the "one-man gang" to take on the malpractices of this stifling duopoly. How will it play out? Read more2) Keeping with the timesIn December 1983, the Maruti 800 was introduced on Indian roads. Since then, Maruti has been the commoner's carmaker. On July 5, 2023, India's largest automobile company launched a multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) called Invicto, which will compete with the Toyota Hycross. Priced between Rs24.79 lakh and Rs28.42 lakh, this vehicle will cross the Rs30 lakh on-road price tag in the country, making it the most expensive car from the Maruti Suzuki stable so far. The launch also marked the carmaker's departure from its decade-old perception of being the common man’s brand. The reality check from the burgeoning Indian economy and evolving customer preferences has jolted Maruti Suzuki, and it seems to have found the right path. Read more 3) What went wrong at PharmEasy?Top investors like Temasek, TPG Growth, Prosus (formerly Naspers), Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital and Nandan Nilekani’s Fundamentum Partnership, among others, believed in what health-tech startup PharmEasy was trying to do. They invested $1.2 billion in 16 funding rounds since its launch in 2014. Flush with funds, in 2021, PharmEasy also made a strategically brilliant acquisition of Thyrocare Technologies to move from peddling low-margin drugs to selling high-margin testing services. But in 2023, it is reportedly raising Rs 2,400 crore in fresh funds at a 90 percent markdown to its previous valuation. What went wrong at PharmEasy? Can it recover? Read more