Just curious – What do IPR readers see as the likely position of third parties on the car dealership franchise laws.
Tesla is currently battling these laws from state to state so that they can sell direct to consumers. They just got a limited boost in Virginia.
I suspect libertarians would oppose these franchise laws. What about Greens, or the Constitution Party? Any others?
Direct sales sounds like the way to go.
There’s another dimension to this issue of Tesla direct sales. The lion’s share of 3rd party dealer profit comes from service. Sales are a small portion of profits. Tesla’s are serviced in an entirely different way than non-EVs and the engineering is very new and unique. So, really there should;t be as much interest by third party dealers in Tesla IMHO except (and here comes the bomb) – if Tesla sets a successful precedent of direct sales, all other manufacturers might start to follow and then the whole field disintegrates. I for one hope that eventually happens. For every 1 salesman or service tech I’ve encountered who is passionate and knowledgeable about their product, there are 10 people working a job who worked for multiple manufacturers and don’t even have any personal experience with the product themselves! It’s like a clothing salesman who looks messy – just doesn’t inspire confidence. Go Tesla!
Unfortunately, when you enable government to be bigger, that tends to be the outcome – protecting the big power players of the status quo from having their apple cart upset. They are in the best position to curry favor with government and use it to their own ends. That is just the nature of government power. Even when government power is with revolutionaries, they tend to settle into a pattern of corruption before too long, creating a class of people (themselves or cronies) who make a lot of money and continuing to enrich them through their relationship with the government at the expense of everyone else.
This Green supports Teslas efforts to sell direct to consumers. Why add another layer to the process? I’ve checked out a dealership and they’re very laidback. Not pushy (probably because 90% of people just go in to drool).
Generally, Greens oppose regulations that merely protect established industries from innovations.and line their pockets. We do support regulations that protect the public health, well-being, and the environment.
Keep government out of it, what good could it possibly do?
On the silly side, here’s a story where Tesla supports third party apps. đŸ™‚
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1056934_tesla-ceo-model-s-will-support-third-party-apps
What about Greens, Constitution Party, and others?
Even for socialists this is government picking between a big corporation and local fat cats.
Simple. Libertarians oppose artificial government barriers to entry. The free market should decide.
I think buying a car through a salesperson is one of the most unpeasant experiences a person can have. Buying it throught the Internet, then arranging some way to take delivery, sounds like an excellent alternative to me.
This might be a problem with used cars, but I tend to buy a new car and drive it for 8 to ten years.
I think that government should stay out of who can and can not sell any product. But particularly in the case of Tesla I am against anything that makes it more difficult for them to sell and support their cars….
This might be because I live less then 6 miles away from the old NUMI facility that Tesla now owns and uses to build their cars. Growth in sales could effect my property values.