Commercial vehicle sales in the country continue to be under pressure thanks to weak demand. The slowdown has taken a toll on most major auto manufacturers. Eicher Motors, a manufacturer of motorcycles and commercial vehicles, witnessed a 32 percent decline in sales in July.

However, Vinod Aggarwal, MD and CEO of Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles,

remains optimistic. The recent announcements made by the government will improve the demand sentiment, he says.

“Once the sentiment improves, I am sure the economy will start picking up. And if the government starts making investments in infrastructure more aggressively, it will help a lot. Additional depreciation of 15 percent and lifting the ban on purchase of vehicles by various government departments will also boost demand,” he observed.

Aggarwal says normal monsoon will help improve rural economy, which would be a boost for demand sentiment.

Speaking about the proposed scrappage policy, he said: ”The policy is very important because at end of the day, all of us are concerned about environment. If you are continuing to allow these vehicles which are more than 12-15 years old, definitely it will hurt the environment.”