The Tesla Motors direct-sales approach has gathered a lot of criticism across the Nation, not from consumers, but from special-interest groups.
Those special-interest groups, of course, are only interested in maintaining the status quo, the monopoly that the automobile dealers have over the products they sell. For the most part, the laws state that automobile manufacturers cannot sell directly to the consumer alongside the automobile dealers. This is solely to protect the dealers, who make their profits by selling vehicles at a higher price than the manufacturer could.
Interestingly, Tesla Motors, who has sold no franchise rights to automobile dealers, shouldn’t be affected by these laws at all. Instead, Tesla Motors should be able, legally, to sell directly to the customer in pretty much every state. This legal precedent has, by no means, prevented the automobile dealer associations (ADA) from trying to block Tesla Motors direct sales.
Yesterday, Tesla Motors met in New Jersey against the ADA there, the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers (NJCAR), which has proposed a new law that would effectively block direct sales by any manufacturer. The specific target is, of course, Tesla Motors, but smooth-talking lawyers have kept that particular tidbit out of the language of Proposal PRN 2013-138.
Tesla Motors has been working closely with the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (NJMVC) and with Governor Chris Christie, both of whom were ostensibly working on delaying or blocking the proposal. According to the Tesla Motors blog, “We are disappointed in the actions of the NJMVC and the Christie Administration, which come on the heels of more than nine months of unexplained delays in the issuing of a new sales license for Tesla, despite our numerous requests, calls, and letters.”
Of course, these delays are all but unexplained. The law is not on the side of the consumer, but in the pocket of NJCAR, it would seem.
Image © NJCAR
So, who pays for the election campaigns and does favors for the New Jersey politicians? The answer: New Jersey Special Interest. Certainly that should give the State’s Car Dealers the right to have politicians write and the Governor sign Laws that shut off free trade. That’s the way they do it in the states of Texas and Arizona, why not New Jersey? Did you notice these are states run by Republicans who profess to believe in free trade? How can you even think of voting for these hypocrites?