The Republican Party has for years insisted that they were the party of capitalism, of the free market. However, when the opportunity to show this appears, they instead do everything they can to prevent a free market from forming. Tesla Motors is now calling them on it, after North Carolina voted on a bill designed to eliminate their direct sales model, which bypasses the traditional 3rd party dealer system. As reported by the News Observer, the new law would ban direct sales, forcing auto makers to sell through a dealer even if it is a direct purchase from the manufacturer. This directly injured Teslas ability to sell in the state, but even more concerning, it limits future innovation in the auto sales industry.
I'm 100% opposed to the gop on this. The forced 3rd party intermediary model is archaic and serves no legitimate purpose anymore.
I'm not familiar with your post history but if I may what is your political leaning?
This is all part of the dealerships buying up politicians.
OP is a lefty partisan. The same thing nearly happened in NY. And just about any state with strong dealership laws.
The left should be all on board with the GOP on this issue. Aren't you all about equality? and hate discrimination?
Why should the government discriminate against the car dealer model, by granting special status to Tesla?
The article might have been more interesting to read if the author wasn't one of the more heavily slanted writer's out there.
What happens if you buy your Tesla and it needs warranty work done on it? Ship the car from North Carolina all the way back to California?
It is quite interesting how the progressives now are the ones against protecting local middle-class jobs in favor of higher profits to corporations. I could pretty much guarantee if car dealerships were unionized the Democrats would be introducing bills to ban Tesla's direct sales while Republicans try to prevent that in the name of free markets.
The GOP basically adopted similar tactics with broadband and big media. They think they are aligning with the goliaths of industries (we represent business!) when they really are enabling aged dinosaurs to stagnant innovation and progress. The GOP has become a big turn off to a lot of fiscal conservatives.
in america the whole political spectrum is economically on the right.It is quite interesting how the progressives now are the ones against protecting local middle-class jobs in favor of higher profits to corporations. I could pretty much guarantee if car dealerships were unionized the Democrats would be introducing bills to ban Tesla's direct sales while Republicans try to prevent that in the name of free markets.
This, exactly. One disadvantage of direct sales is in service, so there is some legitimacy in requiring that a manufacturer have dealers within the state and thus within the state's jurisdiction. Nonetheless, if someone has a hundred grand to drop on an electric car, I don't think we need to protect them from themselves.I dislike both parties, I agree with each party on certain things and disagree on others, but overall I lean conservative so I tend to agree with the GOP position more often than not. In this case, I'm in the "not" category. This looks like bullshit politics (lobbying by various groups and dislike for Tesla) over sticking to a philosophy of limited government.
This sounds more like they caved to lobbying from auto dealerships - who probably have a statewide association of some kind - than it does an ideological opposition to electric vehicles. Either way, it's wrong.
The car manufacturer has petitioned Virginia to grant it an exemption. If granted, it could set a precedent for car manufacturers looking to sell their cars in the state without the middle man.
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But Tesla is hitting roadblocks like the one in Virginia across the country, most recently in North Carolina, Texas, Minnesota and New York. Forty-eight states ban or limit direct sales of automobiles, according to the Chicago Tribune.
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Tesla’s journey in Virginia began in March 2012. An exemption to the no-direct-auto-sales law can be made if the commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles finds that no independent dealer in the community is available to “own and operate the franchise in a manner consistent with the public interest.”
A hearing officer twice recommended that Tesla be allowed to operate its own dealership, despite objections from the Virginia Automobile Dealers Association.
Tesla published notices, as required by law, in The Washington Post and the Washington Times in June 2012 inviting parties interested in running a franchise to attend a hearing at the DMV. None came.
“Could Tesla have done more? Of course it could. It could have placed notices in every journal in Virginia, Washington and Maryland,” hearing officer W. James Dangoia wrote. “It could have posted notices on supermarket bulletin boards and hired skywriters. But the only notice that is required is the publication of the notice that Tesla did in fact publish.”
DMV Commissioner Richard Holcomb, however, declined to authorize the exemption, saying in documents that he needed more information about Tesla’s efforts to identify or solicit potential dealers.
Tesla is a green energy focused company, that's why liberals are all over it.
Andrew Wilkow was all over the GOP about this on his radio show. It's absurd and they need their asses grilled. It's not like this is going to kill the auto industry they have a fraction of the market.
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