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Giga Texas kicks it up a notch...
- Thread starter empiredown
- Start date
When will Texas allow the sale of Teslas in the state?Living in the area, I'm like the cat that ate the cheese, ... waiting with baited breath for the Texla factory to come online.
(yeah, I put the "x" there on purpose)
IMHO that would have been a deal breaker for putting the factory there.
2daMoon
Mostly Harmless
I expect that putting a factory in Texas was a good investment for a significant number of reasons. Central location in US for delivery of product, broad technical workforce to draw employees from, no state income tax, popular city to live in, attractive cost of living for employees, etc.
Having located the factory in the state's capital city, this will be a huge influence toward overcoming the Auto Dealership cartel's lobby in state government.
As for delivery in Texas there seems to be little preventing the constant influx of Tesla cars on the roads. The effect on customers is minimal.
To be clear, people in Texas are not prevented from buying Tesla cars, there is just an extra step for OEMs without a "dealership" location to conduct the sale paperwork aspect from an out of state location.
Eventually the statutes will be amended as they have been in other states with similar rules protecting the Dealership sales model.
2daMoon
Mostly Harmless
The statute requires that a sale of a new car in Texas must be conducted through a dealership in Texas.
Tesla doesn't have dealerships, and so is not a member of the Texas Auto Dealers cartel who lobbied for the statute decades ago to prevent having to compete with direct sales from auto makers.
So, in Texas, you go online to buy a Tesla. (sound familiar?) Yes, just like you would do anywhere. Tesla brings it to you, just like they do elsewhere.
People in Texas buy Tesla cars every day, the same way peole buy them elsewhere. There are Tesla showrooms in Texas, but you cannot transact a sale using the showroom's computer. You cannot "buy" a Tesla off the Showroom floor. The people at the Showroom are forbidden to fill out paperwork or in any way facilitate the actual sale. If it is important to you to do so, you can order a Tesla while physically at a Tesla showroom by using the browser on your phone.
As I understand this, it is not so much a matter of the physical vehicle having to leave the state and then return as it is about the "ownership" of the vehicle having to leave the state and return. It is a matter of where the paperwork is done.
As an example, lets say a company from Fremont CA manufactures something called a Cybertruck at a factory in Texas.
You buy the Cybertruck from the California company online from the comfort of your home in Texas.
The paperwork for the sale is processed in CA, then, you are provided a California Title or a Manufacture's Statement or Origin, or something to give the folks at the courthouse to register your vehicle in Texas in order to be issued Texas plates.
The manufacturer sends a transport to the factory to pick up your Cybertruck and deliver it to you. Same as they would if you had ordered an S,3,X, or Y.
Maybe you arrange to pick it up at a showroom in Texas, or have it delivered to your home, work, or other convenient location. Picking it up is not the legal sale. The legal sale of the vehicle happened in another state.
Done. Easy peasy.
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CyberGus
Not Just a Member
Texas DMV seeks to clarify dealership law — as it tries to enforce it
The question of who is allowed to own an automobile dealership in Texas is surprisingly confusing — even for the state agency that’s supposed to answer it. The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, w…
www.statesman.com
2daMoon
Mostly Harmless
Thanks for that link. A good read.Texas DMV seeks to clarify dealership law — as it tries to enforce it
The question of who is allowed to own an automobile dealership in Texas is surprisingly confusing — even for the state agency that’s supposed to answer it. The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, w…www.statesman.com
The statute forbids manufacturers from "owning" dealerships. ha ha
Tesla doesn't have dealerships, so the law doesn't apply at all. Even better, really.
Even in the convoluted Berkshire Hathaway application of the law the Dealer's Association stretched the matter to the point of saying that because one of their holdings manufactures RVs, so others of its holdings can't be Auto Dealerships because "they" (BH) are a manufacturer. Despite the fact that none of the car dealers they own sell that RV.
This prohibition will never make it to court with Tesla, as their model is dealership-free. I do know that Tesla purchased real estate to open a Service Center in South Austin, and that one of their former showrooms seems to be operating as a Service Center now on the North side of town.
All of that is hoopla that we already know.
My point is: The reason Tesla doesn't have dealerships in Texas is that Texas is too archaic to allow it.
Musk should have used his leverage and said. "You want a Tesla factory in Texas. Change the law!"
That would have been the most efficient way to get it done.
My point is: The reason Tesla doesn't have dealerships in Texas is that Texas is too archaic to allow it.
Musk should have used his leverage and said. "You want a Tesla factory in Texas. Change the law!"
That would have been the most efficient way to get it done.
2daMoon
Mostly Harmless
Tesla doesn't have dealerships anywhere, do they? This is the whole point of the disruptive online shopping model they have implemented.
I think this is the "reason" you may want to give some consideration toward.
That "hoopla" you claim to "know" is what demonstrates how the law you think needs changing has zero effect on Tesla selling cars to Texans.
Please, take a moment and provide in some detail exactly how this problem you are arguing for has any impact on Tesla sales in Texas. Present it in a step by step addressing each specific thing that happens in the process to purchase, register, and have a vehicle delivered.
Then, you may demonstrate more clearly just how you imagine the dealership law impacts the Tesla sales process to customers in Texas.
As far as I can tell, the only extra trouble a Tesla customer will go through is having to process the title and registration on their own, rather than the experience at a dealership where they do it for the customer and tack on an exorbitant fee for doing so. Is this the part you are concerned that Tesla customers will miss out on?
As for the law changing, honestly, it will become irrelevant as traditional dealerships close their doors. Either because customers are not going there to suffer through that disheartening experience any longer, or, because their OEMs have gone bankrupt, and/or are no longer designing cars that require constant maintenance and need replacement after five years which is most of what keeps the dealerships' doors open.
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Texans wanting to get their hands on a Tesla can order one on the company's website. But they won't be able to place an order in any of Tesla's Texas facilities. Residents have to drive to other states to buy the Tesla, or have paperwork sent to another state for processing.
www.businessinsider.com
That's the point. Texas either supports TESLA or they don't. Not allowing Tesla sales at showrooms is not an indicator of support, but an indicator of archaic franchise laws. Sometimes a cigar, is just a cigar.
Like you said, it may become a moot issue. With Texas' challenged and broken independent electric grid, there might not be a place to charge Tesla's anyway.
Tesla has to ship Texas-made cars to other states before it can sell them to Texans because of state laws
Texas lawmakers decided not to pass legislation that would allow carmakers, including Tesla, to sell vehicles directly to customers.
www.businessinsider.com
That's the point. Texas either supports TESLA or they don't. Not allowing Tesla sales at showrooms is not an indicator of support, but an indicator of archaic franchise laws. Sometimes a cigar, is just a cigar.
Like you said, it may become a moot issue. With Texas' challenged and broken independent electric grid, there might not be a place to charge Tesla's anyway.
That is definitely not the only reason.
Right--Tesla doesn't have dealerships anywhere in the U.S., and they need to keep it that way. That is because of how the dealership laws are written in about 30 other states. They are written basically like this, with a conditional "IF....THEN" statement:
IF a manufacturer has granted dealership franchises,
THEN they are not allowed to sell direct to consumers.
So that is establishing that if they have decided to enter into the world of using third party dealerships, then they can't go compete with them / undercut them by selling direct. But if they have not granted ANY dealership franchises, then the second part of that law, forbidding them from selling direct won't apply, and they are free to do so.
So this issue is that if Tesla grants a dealership franchise, ever, anywhere, there are about 30 states where those laws will kick in and apply to them and immediately block them from selling direct. They have to stay clear of that.
2daMoon
Mostly Harmless
As shared before, a customer can go to a Texas Tesla showroom and order a car on their phone if they feel that is somehow important to them to do it that way. So, you are mistaken. Texans can "order in any of Tesla's Texas facilities." Do you honestly believe that some significant percentage of Texas Tesla sales are being lost over this trifle? The ever-increasing number of Tesla cars on Texas roads indicate otherwise.Texans wanting to get their hands on a Tesla can order one on the company's website. But they won't be able to place an order in any of Tesla's Texas facilities. Residents have to drive to other states to buy the Tesla, or have paperwork sent to another state for processing.
Tesla has to ship Texas-made cars to other states before it can sell them to Texans because of state laws
Texas lawmakers decided not to pass legislation that would allow carmakers, including Tesla, to sell vehicles directly to customers.
That's the point. Texas either supports TESLA or they don't. Not allowing Tesla sales at showrooms is not an indicator of support, but an indicator of archaic franchise laws. Sometimes a cigar, is just a cigar.
Like you said, it may become a moot issue. With Texas' challenged and broken independent electric grid, there might not be a place to charge Tesla's anyway.
If you depend upon Business Insider to provide you with accurate information, this might be part of why you don't understand the nuts and bolts of this topic. That is FUD, provided at the behest of their advertisers, spun up for the sole purpose of extending the bleak life expectancy of legacy auto and big oil.
I get it now, you are but another purveyor of FUD aren't you? Or, at least a FUD junkie. You would prefer to not be confused by the facts when spinning a vigorous FUD narrative is really what gets the blood flowing for you. Am I right? C'mon, you can tell me.
I use specific wording on this topic of states like Texas by pointing out which side is affected:
Consumers can buy in the state, but Tesla can't conduct selling operations within the state.
Because if you just look at it as an online purchase, a state law can't prevent someone from just going onto a website and buying something from some other state.
Consumers can buy in the state, but Tesla can't conduct selling operations within the state.
Because if you just look at it as an online purchase, a state law can't prevent someone from just going onto a website and buying something from some other state.
No FUD, just facts. It's obviously news to the rest of the world (outside of the country of Texas).As shared before, a customer can go to a Texas Tesla showroom and order a car on their phone if they feel that is somehow important to them to do it that way. So, you are mistaken. Texans can "order in any of Tesla's Texas facilities." Do you honestly believe that some significant percentage of Texas Tesla sales are being lost over this trifle? The ever-increasing number of Tesla cars on Texas roads indicate otherwise.
If you depend upon Business Insider to provide you with accurate information, this might be part of why you don't understand the nuts and bolts of this topic. That is FUD, provided at the behest of their advertisers, spun up for the sole purpose of extending the bleak life expectancy of legacy auto and big oil.
I get it now, you are but another purveyor of FUD aren't you? Or, at least a FUD junkie. You would prefer to not be confused by the facts when spinning a vigorous FUD narrative is really what gets the blood flowing for you. Am I right? C'mon, you can tell me.
Texas still won't allow direct Tesla sales despite Austin factory
The Texas Legislature will not pass a bill to allow Tesla to sell cars directly in the state before it adjourns Sunday until 2023. The automaker is scheduled to begin manufacturing vehicles at its Austin factory by the end of this year.
www.foxbusiness.com
