Thai authorities are investigating BYD dealers in response to consumer complaints about aggressive discounting in a key international marketplace for the Chinese electric vehicle giant, leaving some buyers unhappy with the costs they paid for his or her cars.
The Thai Prime Minister’s office has instructed the buyer protection agency to launch an investigation.
The government statement said the incident occurred after a BYD customer accused a dealership of expecting the automobile’s price to rise after a reduction campaign ended. Instead, the dealership later aggressively lowered the worth.
BYD Thailand and its exclusive distributor, Rever Automotive, which has a network of greater than 100 dealerships, didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
“We called dealers to explain why they were lowering prices even further and how they planned to find a solution for customers,” said Passakorn Thapmongkol, a senior official on the Consumer Protection Council.
On the BYD automobile owners Facebook group, other Thai customers shared similar complaints.
“The salesperson said the prices would increase after the show, but they ended up being lowered significantly,” Facebook user Thanasit Chai wrote in a post on Wednesday, referring to the Bangkok Motor Show held in March.
Thailand is the most important overseas marketplace for the world’s largest electric vehicle maker. BYD had a 46 percent share of the Thai electric vehicle market in the primary quarter, in response to research firm Counterpoint, and is the third-largest player within the passenger automobile market with a 9 percent share.
Other competitors in the electrical vehicle segment in the marketplace include Great Wall Motor and Tesla.
BYD plans to open its first EV production plant in Southeast Asia in Thailand’s eastern Rayong province on Thursday. It plans to take a position about $490 million within the plant to provide 150,000 cars a 12 months.
Shenzhen-based BYD currently sells 4 models in Thailand, with prices starting from 699,999 baht to 1.59 million baht ($19,000 to $43,200), in response to the Rever website.
Sales of electrical vehicles in Southeast Asia, led by BYD and Vietnamese firm VinFast, greater than doubled from a 12 months ago, outpacing Japanese and Korean makers of traditional gasoline-powered models.
