Electric Vehicle Price War Disrupting Thailand Car Market
Even the used electric vehicle and ICE segments are feeling the mounting losses
On July 5th Reuters reported that Thailand’s consumer protection agency had received about 70 complaints since initiating a probe into a high selling price discounting by BYD dealers that left some earlier BYD buyers feeling they had overpaid for their shiny new electric vehicles.
It seems that BYD in Thailand was offering a hefty 340,000 baht discount for its Atto 3 which is about RM43,666. This is not new as even other EV brands had offered high discounts.
Meanwhile, the Neta V facelift was given a 50,000 baht discount (which is about RM6,500) bringing its price down to RM64,000.
According to media reports by local newspapers, customers who already purchased BYD Atto 3 EV felt dissatisfied about the recent price cuts, which they missed out on, as they considered they overpaid for the cars.
The report says: “Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin urged BYD ceo Wang Chuanfu to safeguard consumer interests, to which Wang committed to ensuring appropriate pricing strategies in the future.”
Rever Automotive, in which BYD holds a 20 percent stake, is BYD’s distributor in Thailand. It recently launched a cash-back initiative and discounts at charging stations. These incentives will be available until March 2025.
Meanwhile, there are issues in the Thailand used car market as reported by ‘Nation Thailand’. According to Suvit Chobpradu, vice president of the Used Car Dealers Association.
“Normally, Japanese cars are updated every 4-5 years and European cars every 4-6 years. When a new model is released, the old model’s price drops, which is standard. However, with EVs, prices drop within a few months of launch. Some new customers even pay less than those who pre-ordered but haven’t received their cars yet.”
Suvit pointed out that while lower prices are beneficial for consumers, the market experiences a shock when EV prices drop significantly. Consumers then expect both EV and ICE vehicles to reduce their prices, leading to delayed car purchases. This is one of the main reasons the automotive market is currently experiencing severe declines.
The situation is expected to worsen this year and next, with an anticipated increase in supply from new EV models or brands entering the market, including some initiating production in Thailand under urgent EV promotion measures or EV 3.0.
So, we have already seen EV price discounting in Malaysia the past year and there will be more coming as Christmas approaches. Will this disruption weaken our used car market?
Will it hit the financial institutions that have provided high financing to some EV buyers?
Will it hit the car insurance industry as more EV accidents happen and repair costs sky-rocket?
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