BYD faces complaints of excessive price reductions in Thailand as it prepares to announce car prices in Vietnam

Since investigating BYD's aggressive price reduction, Thailand's consumer protection agency has received about 70 complaints, alleging that some customers feel they were "cheated" by dealers.

BYD's first factory in Southeast Asia promises to help reduce car prices in this market area (Illustrative image: Reuters).

When BYD CEO Wang Chuanfu visited Thailand to inaugurate the company's first plant in Southeast Asia in early July, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisinwho suggested that the Chinese automaker have a more stable pricing policy to ensure consumer interests.

According to a government spokesperson in Thailand, Wang pledged that future pricing policies would be fair and that affected customers would receive support.

Earlier, Thai authorities opened an investigation into BYD dealers after receiving consumer complaints that sales advisors had claimed prices would increase after the sales promotion ended, but dealers continued to offer even deeper discounts.

On social media, some BYD owners in Thailand complained that BYD's excessive discounts made them feel deceived.

"Nothing hurts more," one car owner shared on Facebook, explaining that he bought a BYD Atto 3 for 1.19 million baht (about 832 million VND), and now the dealer is selling the car for only 859,000 baht (about 600 million VND).

Another car owner posted a video showing words written in blue pen on the BYD's hood, including the statement: "I will never buy from this brand again."

Rever Automotive's website, the exclusive distributor of BYD vehicles in Thailand, in early July showed discounts of up to 340,000 baht (nearly 240 million VND) on some models to celebrate the opening of the company's first factory in Southeast Asia.

Passakorn Thapmongkol, an official at Thailand's Consumer Protection Commission, told Reuters that the agency had met with distributor leaders and requested to review documents related to the discount policy.

"We are receiving more and more complaints," he said.

In the Vietnamese market, in mid-June, BYD held test drive events and launch ceremonies for 3 of its models, with plans to officially introduce products and announce prices later this week.