by Bill Sweet
The owner of Tesla Motors fired back today at the State of New Jersey with this message on the company's website.
In case you missed it, on March 11th the State announced that it would ban all vehicle sales sold directly from the manufacturer to consumer. Because Teslas are only direct-sold, this affects them more than any other car manufacturer. One can guess why a trade group of car salespeople might be in favor of the ban, but the answer is anyone's guess.
Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, has an idea though:
When it became apparent to the auto dealer lobby that this approach would not succeed, they cut a backroom deal with the Governor to circumvent the legislative process and pass a regulation that is fundamentally contrary to the intent of the law.
The rationale given for the regulation change that requires auto companies to sell through dealers is that it ensures “consumer protection”. If you believe this, Gov. Christie has a bridge closure he wants to sell you! Unless they are referring to the mafia version of “protection”, this is obviously untrue. As anyone who has been through the conventional auto dealer purchase process knows, consumer protection is pretty much the furthest thing from the typical car dealer’s mind.
More here.
- Bill
