Asian autos: bleak times ahead

Published By Datamonitor

CitiGold: life, but not as we know it

The $950 billion mass affluent market in Asia-Pacific is vastly underserved. Indeed, in CitiGold's target markets of Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia, HSBC's Premier service is the only serious rival. The US giant has beaten HSBC before in the wealth management market, and it looks set to do it again.

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Colgate-Palmolive: a clean break from southeast Asian detergents

The detergent market worldwide has seen greater consolidation in recent years, with many leading brands concentrated in the hands of a diminishing number of companies. By selling its detergent brands, Colgate is set to make a timely exit from a market in which high raw material costs and continual price competition are driving the need for large-scale production and greater efficiencies.

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Contactless payment: Europe's forecourts are playing catch-up

In Malaysia and the US, credit card usage is high and, as a result, new payment technologies are flourishing. Advancements such as contactless payment have both positive and negative implications for the forecourt retailer. However, given the slow adoption of credit cards in some markets, it will be several years before Europe follows suit.

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Hong Leong: Islamic bank to enhance Malaysia offerings

Hong Leong Bank has launched Hong Leong Islamic Bank in its home market, Malaysia, offering wealth management, personal financial services, capital markets products and structured finance. Considering that Malaysia is emerging as Asia-Pacific's Islamic banking center, Hong Leong is right to capitalize on its existing strength in this market.

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Is VP Bank's repositioning in Asia the start of a trend?

VP Bank, a Liechtenstein-based bank that first entered Singapore in 2008, has decided not to continue its strategy of building a private banking presence in the region. Other foreign players will follow suit if they do not pursue opportunities in the less competitive secondary markets of Asia.

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Maybank's Diamante program highlights the growing promise of the ASEAN region

Maybank has announced that it is rolling out a new program designed to provide a seamless experience for HNW clients no matter where they travel within the ASEAN region. The program demonstrates that not all strategies to grow in the Asian HNW market need focus on Greater China, and that the deepening integration and rising affluence of the ASEAN region represents an attractive market.

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New drinks review: too much choice won't give consumers a headache

Beer and coffee have not traditionally been associated with health giving properties, but this month's selection of new products from Productscan Online shows that this is about to change. Recent launches include a vitamin infused beer that is claimed to reduce hangovers, and an instant coffee which is marketed as containing more antioxidants than green tea.

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Number of millionaires in emerging Asian economies set to overtake Western Europe in 2013

According to Datamonitor statistics, the emerging Asia Pacific economies are set to have a greater number of millionaires than Western Europe by 2013. This largely results from the emergence of the Indian and Chinese economies, which have experienced significant export-driven growth. Internal demand is also becoming increasingly important, and is helping to increase the number of millionaires.

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Proton: the price of import reform

The political embarrassment brought upon Malaysia's government by recent allegations of corruption in the issuing of car import licenses has led it to review its car import policy. This could have important implications for Proton: Malaysia's largest carmaker, and national industrial champion, may need to strengthen external strategic alliances to survive.

Published By Datamonitor