BYD Auto’s Thai distributor, Rever Automotive, this week offered one year of free charging to existing electric vehicle (EV) customers to make up for the company’s recent heavy discounting.
The company was understood to have sold an estimated 50,000 Chinese made EVs in Thailand before it began slashing prices, leaving existing customers feeling that they have vastly overpaid for the vehicles.
Angry BYD owners have complained to the company and to consumer protection agencies about this pricing strategy which has also significantly affected the residual values of their vehicles.
Rever Automotive, in which BYD acquired a 20% stake last month, said customers who bought BYD vehicles before 1 July would be given immediate free access to the company’s 2,000 charging stations nationwide in compensation for its recent price cuts. But this offer was also likely to fall well short of expectations.
Rever Automotive had previously offered existing BYD customers a THB50,000 credit towards the purchase of a second BYD model which further angered its disgruntled customers with some threatening to launch a law suit.
BYD chairman Wang Chuanfu gave assurances that he would remedy the situation when he met with Thai prime minister Srettha Thavisin earlier this month. The PM's office has since called on Rever Automotive to offer more remedies in line with the assurances made.
Thailand has become a key overseas market for BYD. Last month the company opened a new 150,000 unit/year assembly plant to supply the regional market.
