Lobbyist conceals the real mission of NJCAR

[MartinAustin]

Tesla Business Model in N.J. `Unlawful': Appleton: Video - Bloomberg

If you watch today's Bloomberg debate between the university professor and the independent dealers' lobbyist, you will clearly hear the lobbyist say:

"This statute, which has been on the books for more then a decade in New Jersey, is intended to protect the public interest in price competition and public and highway safety."

Let's go over to his club's website, Home Page
and their contradiction to that is there in back and white -

When NJCAR was founded 80+ years ago, its mission was simple: protect and serve the interests of automobile retailers. Today, NJCAR defines its mission as follows:

• To protect and advance the public, government and industry interests of franchised new car and truck retailers;
• To provide accurate and authoritative advice on statutory, regulatory and legislative matters affecting the interests of automobile retailers;
• To maintain and enhance the quality, scope and nature of membership services offered by the Coalition to New Jersey’s franchised new car and truck retailers;
• To constantly evaluate existing services and aggressively explore new options, in order to ensure that the Coalition continues to serve the essential business needs of automotive retailers; and
• To build upon the Coalition’s reputation as one of the Garden State’s leading business advocacy organizations.

I don't see much there about the public interest, saving consumers when there is a recall, saving consumers from evil manufacturers trying to charge too much, and so on. It's all to help the dealers!!!

 

[rjcbox]

Revealing, thanks MA.

Mods: can we merge this into http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/28568-Tesla-Sales-Banned-in-New-Jersey rather than starting a new thread on this topic

 

[Norbert]

Tesla is a monopoly because only Tesla sells Tesla cars? Lawyers....

 

[evme]

Tesla is a monopoly because only Tesla sells Tesla cars? Lawyers....

I think he has a point. We have all been looking at things the wrong way. Tesla has it all wrong, customer satisfaction is not going to be solved with a direct sales model. We need to put a middle man between the car dealer and the customer. It is quite clear the car dealer does not have the user's satisfaction in mind when making a sale as it serves them financially and not the customer. The middle man would act in the customer's best interest to insure maximum customer satisfaction. I propose we ban car dealers talking to customers without an independent middle man to offer optimum customer service experience. The middle man will then bill the dealer for all the effort. Since it would be in the best financial interest of the middle man to bill the dealer for the highest sum possible, they will thoroughly work with the customer addressing every minor detail the customer might need.

Dealers should not have a monopoly on their own services in their own dealerships.

 

[dsm363]

I think he has a point. We have all been looking at things the wrong way. Tesla has it all wrong, customer satisfaction is not going to be solved with a direct sales model. We need to put a middle man between the car dealer and the customer. It is quite clear the car dealer does not have the user's satisfaction in mind when making a sale as it serves them financially and not the customer. The middle man would act in the customer's best interest to insure maximum customer satisfaction. I propose we ban car dealers talking to customers without an independent middle man to offer optimum customer service experience. The middle man will then bill the dealer for all the effort. Since it would be in the best financial interest of the middle man to bill the dealer for the highest sum possible, they will thoroughly work with the customer addressing every minor detail the customer might need.

Dealers should not have a monopoly on their own services in their own dealerships.

It's hard to tell if you are being serious here but you really want to add a second layer of cost between the dealerships and the customer? Those middlemen would need to get paid as well driving up cost.

 

[Norbert]

It's hard to tell if you are being serious here but you really want to add a second layer of cost between the dealerships and the customer? Those middlemen would need to get paid as well driving up cost.

Parody, I think. Middlemen for the middlemen. They would have to enter a franchise agreement with the customer, so that there is a franchise on both sides of the purchase deal. To be really fair for both sides. BTW, are all real estate agents franchises? Are they franchisees or franchisors?

 

[apvbguy]

I don't see much there about the public interest, saving consumers when there is a recall, saving consumers from evil manufacturers trying to charge too much, and so on. It's all to help the dealers!!!

since the powers here felt my initial answer was not worthy of remaining posted, let me try to convey the my thoughts about this another way.
Bingo you are correct, the laws like this are outmoded and obsolete and currently the way they are written and construed they are indeed working in favor of the dealerships and not the consumers. you need to understand the source of what you posted is a trade groups whose only reason for existence is the promoting the agenda of the dealership franchisees.

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

.../ the laws like this are outmoded and obsolete and currently the way they are written and construed they are indeed working in favor of the dealerships and not the consumers. you need to understand the source of what you posted is a trade groups whose only reason for existence is the promoting the agenda of the dealership franchisees.

Is there really anyone here that isn’t aware of that?

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

It's hard to tell if you are being serious here but you really want to add a second layer of cost between the dealerships and the customer? Those middlemen would need to get paid as well driving up cost.

It's inductive reasoning used to mock the lobbyists' justification.

 

[TexasEV]

It's standard operating procedure for a trade group to claim the restrictive laws or regulations that benefit its members exist to "protect the public". They must teach that in Special Interests 101, along with rent seeking and regulatory capture.

 

[dsm363]

It's inductive reasoning used to mock the lobbyists' justification.

That was my guess. It is hard to judge tone or intent on a forum sometimes.

 

[Chris Naps]

People have made smart gestured ideas on the reasoning behind Tesla's ban, example: Monopoly - Tesla is technically a monopoly. Tesla should just do the BARE MINIMUM and purchase only the minimum things it needs to make it a "dealership", example: 1,000 sq. ft. space, but put a lot of cars on the lot so they can be used as loaners to other local galleries / test drive vehicles. I think this will be good for Tesla because it will show its adaptability.

 

[TexasEV]

People have made smart gestured ideas on the reasoning behind Tesla's ban, example: Monopoly - Tesla is technically a monopoly. Tesla should just do the BARE MINIMUM and purchase only the minimum things it needs to make it a "dealership", example: 1,000 sq. ft. space, but put a lot of cars on the lot so they can be used as loaners to other local galleries / test drive vehicles. I think this will be good for Tesla because it will show its adaptability.

You're missing the point. NJ said a car manufacturer can not own a dealership or have a financial interest in a dealership. Dealerships have to be independent businesses. Tesla stores are technically "dealerships" in some other states that license new car dealers but which don't have the ownership restriction.

 

[moollar]

The whole monopoly thing is not correct (as the professor ran out of time trying to explain on the Bloomberg piece). It's like saying McDonalds has a monopoly on the Big Mac, because you can only buy them from McDonalds. As the professor mentioned, you don't know whether you're visiting a franchise store or corporate store when you visit a McDonalds. It's not that people are against the idea of having franchises per se, it's just that car dealers suck! If Tesla were able to have the same sort of control over the experience a potential customer has at an auto franchise that McDonalds has over their franchise stores (to the point where you superficially wouldn't know the difference between the two), then I think Tesla would not have an issue.

The very fact that they are insisting that a franchise dealer has to be used is ridiculous. Their arguments essentially amount to saying that Tesla could not do as good a job as what they do, which, according to published accounts, is complete rubbish. The assumption that Tesla could not meet proper consumer protection laws or warranty issues is also baseless. As the professor also said in the interview, Tesla would not be around too long if they were useless in these areas. In fact, all indications are that Tesla is far superior to the dealers in these areas.

It still baffles me that this is even happening and only happening in the United States (where the vehicles are made)! Sometimes I wonder if they even realise how stupid they sound when they spout this stuff. The dealer association guy was a lawyer for Pete's sake! He can't be that naive, surely.....

 

[Doug_G]

He's not naive. Lawyers make arguments they don't believe all the time. Part of the job I guess.

 

[artsci]

Sometimes I wonder if they even realise how stupid they sound when they spout this stuff. The dealer association guy was a lawyer for Pete's sake! He can't be that naive, surely.....

No offense to attorney owners intended, but you know the old joke: "How do you know when a lawyer is lying? When his lips are moving."

 

[arondaniel]

The Price is Racist

it's just that car dealers suck

They go way beyond suck. Check out this Atlantic article about sexism and racism in auto sales and service. The Price Is Racist: When Minorities (and Women) Are Asked to Pay More - Derek Thompson - The Atlantic

There is a vast "information asymmetry" at the dealership and its service dept. They know everything about the transaction's true cost and value and you know comparatively little. Dealers exploit this asymmetry to maximize profit. That's not by accident, it is their whole raison d'être.

Women and minorities bear the brunt of this asymmetry in the form of higher prices -- and this is where it gets interesting -- even when they have IDENTICAL KNOWLEDGE as the white males.

This law in NJ and elsewhere is perpetuating, IMO, one of the last great bastions of sexism and racism.

EDIT: I do not wish to suggest that individual car salesmen or service personnel are sexist or racist. However the dealership system clearly is, based on measurable outcomes.

 

[JNH3171]

Tesla Business Model in N.J. `Unlawful': Appleton: Video - Bloomberg

If you watch today's Bloomberg debate between the university professor and the independent dealers' lobbyist, you will clearly hear the lobbyist say:

"This statute, which has been on the books for more then a decade in New Jersey, is intended to protect the public interest in price competition and public and highway safety."

Let's go over to his club's website, Home Page
and their contradiction to that is there in back and white -

When NJCAR was founded 80+ years ago, its mission was simple: protect and serve the interests of automobile retailers. Today, NJCAR defines its mission as follows:

• To protect and advance the public, government and industry interests of franchised new car and truck retailers;
• To provide accurate and authoritative advice on statutory, regulatory and legislative matters affecting the interests of automobile retailers;
• To maintain and enhance the quality, scope and nature of membership services offered by the Coalition to New Jersey’s franchised new car and truck retailers;
• To constantly evaluate existing services and aggressively explore new options, in order to ensure that the Coalition continues to serve the essential business needs of automotive retailers; and
• To build upon the Coalition’s reputation as one of the Garden State’s leading business advocacy organizations.

I don't see much there about the public interest, saving consumers when there is a recall, saving consumers from evil manufacturers trying to charge too much, and so on. It's all to help the dealers!!!

Tell everyone to copy and paste the information above and email it to [email protected] (Big wig at NJcar) Add a personal message.

 

[apvbguy]

Tell everyone to copy and paste the information above and email it to [email protected] (Big wig at NJcar) Add a personal message.

out of sheer curiosity what do you you think sending messages like this will cause to happen?

 

[tezco]

Tesla Business Model in N.J. `Unlawful': Appleton: Video - Bloomberg

If you watch today's Bloomberg debate between the university professor and the independent dealers' lobbyist, you will clearly hear the lobbyist say:

"This statute, which has been on the books for more then a decade in New Jersey, is intended to protect the public interest in price competition and public and highway safety."

Let's go over to his club's website, Home Page and their contradiction to that is there in back and white.

The statute may have well protected the public interest in the early days. Now it probably doesn't; however, there isn't a "contradiction" here, only a lobbyist fighting to preserve the status quo that benefits his employers.