Department of Justice Paper Advocating Direct Sales of Cars by Manufacturers

[Jack6591]

I promoted the link on my Facebook page. Any other suggestions?

 

[wycolo]

Petition your elected officials, the ones you VOTE for. Anything else is just window dressing, means squat.
--

 

[Curt Renz]

Today Elon tweeted, "The kill Tesla bill in NY was stopped in the 11th hour due to public outcry. Am super grateful to everyone who helped."

 

[AlMc]

Today Elon tweeted, "The kill Tesla bill in NY was stopped in the 11th hour due to public outcry. Am super grateful to everyone who helped."

Excellent. And casted vote and bump.

 

[Jack6591]

Well done, Gentlemen.

 

[Curt Renz]

I suggest that a referendum be placed on the ballot of any state in which the legislature is hostile to Tesla Motors' business model. It would let voters decide whether they want to be allowed to deal directly with a car manufacturer.

 

[Daniel Scherer]

Signed it and posted the link on Facebook.

 

[malcolm]

Mods - should this thread be a Sticky?

This Direct Sales issue is likely to take some time to resolve

 

[benfranklin]

If we're thinking long term, I'd wager that this issue will actually be a huge advantage to Tesla going forward--much better than if Tesla didn't have to deal with the issue from the get go. The issue has already gotten a ton of free positive press for Tesla. But what is significant about a lot of the press is how the issue has been portrayed: The dealers are trying to prevent sales of Tesla. Why would they be trying to prevent sales of Tesla? Because Tesla makes a superior product and/or is willing to cut of the middleman.

THAT is the narrative right now and it has worked to Tesla's advantage, not disadvantage. The original justification against the direct sales model does not work against a company that does not sell through dealers. The more press this issue gets the more the dealers seem to concede the superiority of the Tesla sale model and the Tesla product. Even when the narrative stated outright it is the only possible conclusion. And while I wouldn't underestimate the power of auto dealer dollars at the state level, federal media attention is not something these dealers want.

If direct sales of vehicles become the norm, Tesla will almost surely be the brand that will be associated with the breakthrough. And that aura of "so good the dealers tried to prevent us from selling it" will stay with it for some time.

So, yes, I think the dealer laws have actually been a boon. The more rigid the system the more severe the disruption when it proves inefficient.