Dr. Wilfried Aulbur, Managing Partner & CEO, India, Roland Berger: The Budget is muted on the passenger vehicles front. Charges on luxury vehicles and high-capacity SUVs may not dent sales, but clearly, I do not support the demand either. The same is true for the pollution cess on car models.
Investments in roadways are positive for the commercial vehicle sector. Increased expenditure on infrastructure will lead to increased demand and will be beneficial for job creation.
Higher expenditure for rural areas is likely to increase rural demand and drive consumption. This would overall be positive for the industry, increase capacity utilisation and in the long run drive private capital expenditure. This, with the 7{+t}{+h} pay commission and OROP, hopefully, puts enough money into consumers’ pockets to support domestic growth. Global economies are not doing very well. Exports into many markets with low or negative GDP growth are falling and indicate weakness in the global environment. Hence, India will have to generate her own success story focusing on domestic fundamentals.”