Electric vehicle sales in Thailand are expected to miss the estimate of 130,000 units this year as prices are likely to keep changing, attributed to a price war among Chinese EV makers, says Hyundai Mobility Thailand, a subsidiary of the Korean automaker.
"The price war is an obstacle in the EV market as it causes unstable car prices, making buyers hesitant," said Wallop Chalermvongsavej, managing director of Hyundai Mobility Thailand.
"They prefer to wait and see as they don't know whether EV prices will keep decreasing."
The price war in the local market started last year when some Chinese firms cut EV prices to draw customers as competition intensified.
Some Chinese automakers also wanted to clear stock so they reduced prices, said Mr Wallop.
The unstable prices are not good for the EV industry because they do not reflect real demand from customers, he said.
Hyundai, which is marketing its EVs in the premium category, previously estimated up to 130,000 EVs would be sold this year, but now downgraded the projection to 100,000 units.
Last year EV sales in Thailand totalled 80,000.
The rapid growth of the Thai EV market followed government incentive packages to promote production and consumption of EVs in the country.
Mr Wallop expects EV sales to gain a market share of 10-15% of domestic sales in Thailand, which are still dominated by internal combustion engine (ICE) cars.
"Car companies continue to launch EV models to attract buyers," he said.
"This should help increase the proportion of EV sales."
Last year total domestic car sales, including ICE and electric cars, tallied 780,000 units.
Car sales were sluggish during the first two months of this year, plunging by 21.9% year-on-year to 107,657 units, according to the Federation of Thai Industries' Automotive Industry Club.
The decrease was mainly attributed to banks' stricter criteria for car loans as high household debt levels increase the likelihood of non-performing loans.
Hyundai set a sales target of 1,500 EVs this year and 1,000 in 2025.
The company launched a payment plan for Hyundai customers, increasing instalment periods from five to eight years.
Hyundai also introduced its Ioniq cars, featuring the use of recycled polyethylene terephthalate bottles to make fabric for car seats, as well as waste from the sea transformed into eco-friendly upholstery.