Jul. 19 – India’s Tata Motors announced on Friday that they will be increasing the price of their popular Nano model by three percent to four percent due to a “very sharp increase in input costs.”

Automobile prices in India have been rising across the board this year due increases in factory taxes, new government-issued emission regulations, and higher prices for key commodities like rubber and steel. » Read rest of the article

Jul. 16 – Asian investors are looking beyond China and considering investments in emerging markets in Southeast Asia, says an ING Investor Dashboard survey.

The survey reflects dampening enthusiasm on China with the Greater China sentiment index dropping by 14 percent to 127 during the second quarter of the year compared to Southeast Asian stock sentiment rising by 3 percent to 141. Investors are aware that Chinese authorities are implementing credit tightening measures. » Read rest of the article

Jul. 16 – The venture capital market in China and India is set to expand over the next five years even while it contracts across many developed nations like the United States and much of Europe, according to a survey released on Wednesday by Deloitte and the National Venture Capital Association.

“The stage has now been set for emerging markets like China, India, and Brazil to rise as drivers of innovation as they are increasingly becoming more competitive with the traditional markets,” said Mark Jensen, partner at Deloitte & Touche LLP. » Read rest of the article

Jul. 6 – Chinese companies may raise as much as US$74 billion this year through IPOs on the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses in an effort to generate funds for growth, according to a statement from PricewaterhouseCoopers in Shanghai.

PwC expects 300 new listing this year (275 in Shenzhen and 25 in Shanghai) following a very solid first half which saw 176 companies raise US$31 billion. The country’s 99 IPOs in total last year generated less than that figure, raising just US$28 billion through the entirety of 2009 – although there was a 10-month moratorium on share sales until June 2009 to protect the markets during the economic downturn. » Read rest of the article

Jun. 29 – German luxury car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz announced on Monday that it would be entering the pre-owned automobile business in India as the company tries to make their cars more accessible across the country by offering them at a lower price.

“Now we are bringing this to India to make the dream of many customers to own a Mercedes-Benz even more achievable,” Managing Director and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India Wilfried Aulbur said at a press conference in New Delhi on Monday. » Read rest of the article

Jun. 28 – China and India claim the world’s first and second most competitive manufacturing industries, respectively, and it will remain that way for at least the next five years, according to a new global manufacturing competitiveness index published in a joint report by Deloitte LLP and the U.S. Council on Competitiveness.

The report, which surveyed over 400 CEOs and top level manufacturing executives worldwide,  was conducted during late 2009 and early 2010. The results show dominance in perceived manufacturing competitiveness in Asia, where respondents believe China, India, and South Korea deserve the top three spots both presently and five years from now. » Read rest of the article

Jun. 24 – Popular San Francisco-based clothing retailer Gap Inc. announced on Wednesday that it would be opening two namesake stores each in Beijing and Shanghai sometime later this year, making good on an announcement last October that the company would soon be entering the Chinese market.

Despite heavy market saturation by likely competitors such as H&M and Uniqlo, Gap is confident that its casual, comfortable, and affordable apparel will catch on in the emerging Chinese consumer economy. » Read rest of the article

Jun. 21 – China’s stocks received an upgrade from “neutral” to “overweight” while Indian stocks were downgraded from “overweight” to “underweight” in a report by BNP Paribas released on Jun. 20 which rated national bourses based on the expected performance of their respective market over the next 12 months.

“The change in preference for China over India reflects our view that the Indian market has priced in many of the positive factors we have been highlighting,” analysts for BNP Paribas wrote in the report. “While these structural factors have not gone away, pessimism over the prospects for China have opened up a valuation gap.” » Read rest of the article

Jun. 17 – China will become the world’s second largest advertising market by 2012 according to a new report released June 16 by media research institute Magna Global.

The Core Media Advertising Forecast predicts that Chinese advertising revenues will increase 16.4 percent annually over the next five years, translating to US$45.2 billion in revenue by 2015. » Read rest of the article

Jun. 16 – Shanghai has dropped 18 places to 46 in this year’s ECA International’s world’s most expensive city to live in survey.

According to ECA’s global ranking, Beijing fell 29 spots to 55, while Tokyo claimed the top spot as most expensive city to live in.

The falling of Chinese cities on the list is attributed to the pegging of the Chinese RMB to the weakened U.S. dollar. » Read rest of the article