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Tesla Pushes Even More States To Upend Auto Dealer-Friendly Laws (arstechnica.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the under-pressure dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Tesla is now pressing ahead with lobbying efforts that would allow it to expand its direct dealerships in two more states: Nebraska and Wisconsin. For now, more than 20 states already allow the California automaker to sell its own vehicles, while others have set up a system that at least partially bans manufacturers from direct sales and effectively protects auto dealers. Those states include Texas, Michigan, West Virginia, and Utah, among others. Last year, court rulings and changes in the law in Arizona, Missouri, Indiana, and other states have paved the way for Tesla to sell directly to the public. In Nebraska, the new bill under consideration is known as LB 830. It has been met with opposition from existing dealers who are concerned that other manufacturers like GM or Ford will want a similar arrangement. Similarly, in Wisconsin, SB 605 would carve out an exception in state law for a "manufacturer [whose] motor vehicles... are propelled solely by electric power."

5 of 116 comments (clear)

  1. Why exceptions? by Cajun+Hell · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why wouldn't you want to order a Ford or GM (or Toyota or whatever) directly, instead of having to go through a middleman? Are these laws pure corruption or is there some way to look at them in the best light, where they serve the peoples' interests?

    --
    "Believe me!" -- Donald Trump
    1. Re:Why exceptions? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      There is a fig leaf of an argument that a car is such a significant purchase that there should have some minimal in state presence for service/support for the customer.

      They can keep the showroom and service bays, I just want standardized prices with no need to haggle over stupid stuff. I'd like to just be able to place the order online, even fill out the paper work electronically and place the deposit, only having to show ID and put down the final signatures when I arrive to take delivery.

    2. Re:Why exceptions? by thegarbz · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Semi-related, my local camera store has had this exact problem since the advent of the internet. I'm amazed they're still around.

      Which makes you wonder why are they still around. You see it becomes a question of value. Do I go waste someone's time and then take my business online with a re-seller I've never seen who is in god knows where subject to god knows what laws, or do I spend a couple of hundred dollars extra to protect a major investment by buying locally, a product that I get instantly, where if I have a problem I can not only return it with ease but also deal with a living person rather than some RMA email service.

      Unfortunately dealerships do nothing of the sort. Fuck them. You know what the opposite to a dealership model is? Tesla. Where you can go into the Tesla store, take a test drive, waste the sales clerk's time, and then leave buying your car on tesla.com all the while the people running the stores still happily take home a paycheck and don't try to heap on after market worthless "extras".

  2. Barrier to entry by Camel+Pilot · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Obviously setting up a dealership network is a huge barrier to entry to new innovation and disruptive technologies. This is just a feature of crony capitalism.

  3. Re:Someone remind me again... by desdinova+216 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    because the owners of the Local dealerships who provide a lot of campaign money to State level legislators want to protect their business model.