The Thai importer and distributor of BYD cars will provide one year of free charging to previous buyers of approximately 50,000 electric vehicles to address recent price cuts, according to a cabinet minister.
Starting Thursday, the service will be accessible at 2,000 charging stations across the country, as announced by Prime Minister’s Office Minister Jiraporn Sindhuprai after discussions with Rever Automotive management on Wednesday.
This offer was made in response to numerous complaints from BYD car buyers regarding significant discounts that negatively impacted the value of their recent purchases.
Ms. Jiraporn stated that Rever is also exploring additional initiatives, following a request from Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin to the CEO of BYD, who was recently in Thailand for the official opening of the Chinese EV maker’s production facility.
“There are positive signs from the discussions regarding further actions to ensure fair treatment for consumers,” said Ms. Jiraporn, who is responsible for consumer protection. “This initial measure is being implemented to provide consumers with a sense of compensation.”
Rever Automotive faced substantial criticism after reducing prices by 140,000 to 160,000 baht for the BYD Dolphin model and by 100,000 to 340,000 baht for the Atto model.
Some buyers reported feeling pressured by sales staff to make quick decisions because the promotional prices were set to expire soon, only to find that prices dropped even further after their purchase.
The Trade Competition Commission of Thailand stated that the price wars among EV manufacturers and dealers do not violate competition laws; instead, they encourage competition.
However, many EV companies, mostly from China, have voiced concerns that a prolonged price war could damage the industry’s reputation.
