Tesla vs. North Carolina on Huffington Post

[leilanimunter]

Hello everyone, I am new to the forum. I am a race car driver living in North Carolina and our state legislature is trying to pass a bill to stop Tesla from selling cars in our state. I have been meeting with lawmakers here since the bill passed the Senate and soon I will testify before the House Transportation Committee. I wrote this article about the fight for Huffington Post and wanted to share it with all the Tesla owners and enthusiasts here:

Leilani Munter, Huffington Post: Why We Need to Fight for Tesla

Hopefully we will win this fight, but the dealers are very powerful here.

Leilani
Carbon Free Girl
Never Underestimate a Vegetarian Hippie Chick With a Race Car

 

[Krugerrand]

Read your wonderful article when it first showed up on the Internet. Thank you for taking such a proactive stance. It's beyond ridiculous what *they* are trying to do. Keep fighting the good fight!

 

[lolachampcar]

The level of contempt is nowhere near as high but NC's ignorance on this issue is reminiscent of things like the Jim Crow laws. They are WAY out of the mainstream on this one and will eventually get their act together. Thank you for trying to help them see the light but do not get too disappointed if raw corruption gets the initial upper hand.

 

[ksdprasad]

thanks and all support from us.

 

[Grendal]

Your Governor test drove one recently:
North Carolina governor test-drives Tesla Model S amid dealer fight

My playful comment to this article was:

As Americans, we like our stuff. We get very bitchy and whiney if we don't get the stuff we want. This is not going to go well for the dealer's associations when someone who wants a Tesla is told they can't have one. That person is going to throw a hissy fit and stomp their feet until they get one. Then they will get mad and start making demands. The richer you are, the more this is exaggerated. Those people will hire their own lawyers and soon the politicians will hear about it.

The end result will not go well for the dealers, I think.


The dealers are on the losing side of this for the reasons that Elon mentioned in his Tesla "state of the union" address recently. 99% of the people don't like that they are forced to buy cars through dealers. Tesla is bringing to light the laws the dealers have created to protect themselves. The fact that they are using these laws to try and prevent Tesla from doing business is making them look even worse than they already do. Eventually they will have to capitulate under public pressure. If they are smart they will see this sooner rather than later.

And excellent article, Leilani. Keep up the good work.

 

[MikeC]

Welcome! Excellent article and it's really great to have more high-profile support for Tesla, keep it up!

 

[leilanimunter]

Thanks for the support everyone, hopefully we will defeat this silly bill in the next couple of weeks. It's so ridiculous and most of the lawmakers I met with agree.

I like your comments, Grendal, very true!

 

[JRP3]

Welcome LM, we've been discussing the NC silliness here for a while, if you want to jump in and join the fun. Trouble in NC: Senate Bill 327

 

[dmckinstry]

Great article Leilani. Keep up the good fight.

 

[TI Sailor]

Elon Musk said during the shareholders' annual meeting most of the opposition is being driven by large, multi-state dealers. Although he didn't name names, I won't be so polite and reticent. Rick Hendrick and Hendrick Automotive Group has 37 dealerships in NC alone, and another 50 in states like Virginia and Texas. It's not coincidental those state's auto dealers associations are also fighting hard to keep Tesla from selling direct to consumers. Ask Mr. Hendrick if he believes in free enterprise and competition, off-track as well as on.

 

[leilanimunter]

Your Governor test drove one recently:
North Carolina governor test-drives Tesla Model S amid dealer fight

Yup, I wasn't there for that particular ride but I met with the Governor last week and also took another legislator out in a Model S. Here's another article on his ride with more details: Dome: Lobbyists effort lands McCrory in a Tesla Model S | Under the Dome | NewsObserver.com

 

[dsm363]

Welcome! Good luck in the NC fight as well. Glad you are on board.

 

[aviators99]

Thanks for the good work.

 

[jeff_adams]

Like Elon said, there hasn't been a single successful new automaker in the U.S. that has used the franchised dealership model in the past 90 years.

Ask Fisker and Coda how well the dealership model worked......

 

[Todd Burch]

Leilani,

Thank you for using your higher public profile to take this fight to the NC legislature. Hopefully the effects will spill over into Virginia, where a similar fight seems imminent.

 

[Smallfootprint]

Let us know if there is any way us out-of-staters can help.

 

[StephenM]

Great article. Thanks for your activism.
I'm also eager to help if there's anything that can be done from Hawaii.

 

[Beckler]

Excellent and smart article that pulls no punches. And BTW Tesla needs to talk to you if they need models for their next car brochure, website, etc. - perfect fit.

 

[Citizen-T]

Like Elon said, there hasn't been a single successful new automaker in the U.S. that has used the franchised dealership model in the past 90 years.

Ask Fisker and Coda how well the dealership model worked......

And ask their customers just how "protected" they feel now that the dealers won't honor their warranties.

 

[Mycroft]

Part of the dealer argument is that they are there to support the end customer if the manufacturer goes bankrupt. Fortunately, we have a recent example of how well that line of thinking went. Just see all the Karma customers who were summarily given the boot by the dealers when Fisker Auto stopped answering the phone.