Bajaj Auto is the best pick in auto pack: Pankaj Pandey

ET Now caught up with Pankaj Pandey, Head of Research, ICICI Direct, to get his view on the performance of auto stocks ahead of the budget.

How are you placing your bets on the auto sector ahead of the budget?

For the auto sector among frontlines, we like Bajaj Auto the most. We feel there could be change in leadership. Bajaj Auto could benefit from the revival in demand from the urban places.

From a budget perspective, even if there is some roll back of excise duty, the hardening of interest rate scenario could play a more negative role rather than 2 per cent or 4 per cent kind of increase in excise duty. So, from a budget perspective, I would not be really too much worried but in case the interest rate cycle goes up. Probably, that could be a bit of a concern but even then Bajaj Auto would remain our top pick.