After years of being associated with powerful politicians and menacing goons thanks to Bollywood films, SUVs are now undergoing a makeover. At car dealerships across the country, they are now being positioned as the ultimate family car —  a fortress that can keep your loved ones safe on treacherous Indian roads. 

The word on the street, according to multiple sales executives and industry insiders, is that Indian carmakers are deliberately positioning these  vehicles as rolling citadels. And it's working. SUVs are now outshining hatchbacks in annual sales. 

But this love for SUVs among buyers is like the inexplicable craze around skinny jeans—no one likes them except the manufacturers and the ones in them. Simply put, more SUVs on the road mean more worry for everyone else.

Tune in.

Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

The Ken is hosting its first live subscriber event! Join two long-term and contrarian CEOs, Nithin Kamath of Zerodha and Deepak Shenoy of Capitalmind, as they discuss the mental models, decision making frameworks, and potential outcomes related to a very real possibility: an extended stock market winter that lasts 24 months or more. Click here to buy your tickets.