Japan-based Mazda feels reluctant to upgrade its locally made pickups to be either B10- and B20-compatible, which would trigger an excise tax reduction and mean cheaper biodiesel fuel prices for drivers, both government schemes.
Mazda markets the pickups locally and plans to spend roughly six months to study biodiesel B10 and B20 compatibility.
Chanchai Trakarnudomsuk, president of Mazda Sales Thailand, the local unit of the Japanese car maker, said its pickup model BT-50 Pro is compatible with B7.
"Adjusting our pickup models for B10 and B20 immediately is not possible, even though the excise tax discount of 0.5-2% is already effective," he said.
Earlier this week, two leading brands for pickups in Thailand -- Toyota and Isuzu -- announced their new models would be B20-compatible. Toyota announced its vehicles would be 3,000-13,000 baht cheaper from April 9, thanks to the new excise tax rate.
Other pickup brands such as Ford, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Mazda and Chevrolet have yet to make an announcement on this matter.
Mr Chanchai said the Hiroshima-based parent firm has to acknowledge the latest biodiesel policy before making a decision on the next step.
"We cannot reject every proposed change to our pickups, but it takes time and money to complete. Meanwhile, the BT-50 Pro is close to the end of the model's life cycle," he said.
In July 2016, Mazda revealed it would relocate production of its next-generation pickup models in Thailand under an agreement with Isuzu. That means Mazda pickups will no longer be made at Auto Alliance Thailand in Rayong, with Isuzu's plants in Samut Prakan and Chachoengsao heading up supply.
In a related development, Mazda posted car sales in the first quarter of 2019 at 16,579 units, unchanged from the same period in 2018.
It captured a 6.3% market share for the period. Mazda2 eco-cars made up the majority with 12,460 units from January to March.
Mazda is still confident of achieving local sales of 75,000 units this year, up 6.4% year-on-year. The figure would be a record, eclipsing the 73,764 units sold in 2012.
The company aims to capture a market share of 7.1-7.3% in 2019, up 0.4-0.6 percentage points from the year before.
Mr Chanchai said although Mazda's sales have been slower than expected, the car market this year is expected to be driven by a growing Thai economy, which has been improving since the beginning of the year.
Mazda projects a flat overall local market in 2019 with 1.06 million cars sold.
The company plans to launch six new and refreshed models this year and introduce the 7th generation of all planned models locally during the second half of 2019, starting with the Mazda3.
Mazda expect sales in Southeast Asia to total 134,000 cars, an increase of 16%, in the fiscal year ending in March 2019.
Thailand is the largest market for Mazda in the region, followed by Vietnam.
For the period, sales from Thailand stood at 70,468 units, surging by 25%, the highest growth for Mazda worldwide for the second year in a row.
By sales volume, Thailand ranked sixth for Mazda worldwide.
Mazda captured a 6.6% market share in the Thai market the last fiscal year, the second largest portion after Australia.