The Thai importer and distributor of BYD cars will offer one year of free charging to previous buyers of about 50,000 of its electric vehicles to make up for recent price slashing, according to a cabinet minister.
The service will be available starting on Thursday at 2,000 charging stations nationwide, Prime Minister’s Office Minister Jiraporn Sindhuprai said after talks with the management of Rever Automotive on Wednesday.
The offer was made after many BYD car buyers complained about huge discounts that affected the value of the cars they had bought earlier.
Ms Jiraporn said Rever was also considering additional measures, in line with a request made by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin to the chief executive officer of BYD, who was in Thailand recently for the official opening of the Chinese EV maker’s production plant.
“There was a positive sign in the discussions about subsequent measures for the fair treatment of consumers,” said Ms Jiraporn, who oversees consumer protection. “The initial measure is being taken so that consumers feel that they are being compensated.”
Rever Automotive attracted heavy criticism after it reduced prices by between 140,000 and 160,000 baht for the BYD Dolphin model and by 100,000 to 340,000 baht for the Atto.
Some buyers said they had been pressured earlier by salespeople to make a decision quickly because existing promotional prices would end soon. But after they purchased their cars, prices were cut even further.
The Trade Competition Commission of Thailand said that price wars among EV producers and dealers did not violate the trade competition law, but rather fostered competition.
However, many EV companies, the vast majority of them Chinese, have expressed concern that a protracted price war will hurt the reputation of the industry.