Triedaq, I think the scenario you envision is the very reason the dealers are fighting so hard to get laws to protect their business model. I think they’re afraid that a free market would be devastating to their way o f doing business.
Bottom line: a level playing field that’s also free market is open to different business models competing with one another, the best models surviving. A marketplace with one business model mandated by protective laws is not a free market. Laws are supposed to protect the consumers from the predators, not the predators from the consumers.
@jtsanders The confusion is understandable! California has a Silicon Valley in the North and a Silicone Valley in the South around Los Angeles (Hollywood)!
@Triedaq That’s already happening to some degree. There are several dealerships in my area that sell unrelated car makes. My personal favorite is the one that sells Maserati, Bentley, and… Mazda.
@TSMB: Yes, I agree that the dealership model is inefficient and antiquated, and needs to be updated. “Squeeze out the middleman” is almost always a good idea. I just take exception to Tesla asking for (yet another) exception to the rules everyone else follows. Put another way: the liquor laws in PA are inefficient and Byzantine–yet, if one particular bar sought an exception to these laws, it would offend my sense of fairness, if said bar competes against other bars hamstrung by the Byzantine laws.
Joe, I understand your point, but it isn’t Tesla asking for an exception to the rules, it’s the dealers trying to get laws passed to force Tesla to operate using the same business model they do. Tesla is not asking for any special laws. They only want to operate under the laws in place when they entered the market, which allow them to use a different business model. The dealers are trying to get laws passed to prohibit Tesla. And, in some states, they’ve apparently bought the legislators necessary to force their will on Tesla.
Well, then knock down the barriers but like I said, knock em down for everybody. @MikeInNH, I find it laughable that you think I’m a conservative; even more laughable that you think Tesla is a darling of free-market capitalism. Tesla ows its existence to a “cap and trade” emissions shell game: if allowed to sink or swim of its own merits…gulb, glub! (I would like to see an electric car produced in mass quantities, though…it would at least restore some of the well-paid coal mining jobs that the EPA has [helical fastenered] us out of around here!)
Well, then knock down the barriers but like I said, knock em down for everybody.
The barriers you speak of are for Franchise’s. Tesla didn’t setup any franchises. Why are you saying the most be FORCED to. There’s no law on the books saying Ford/GM/Toyota…etc…have to sell cars through franchises. They choose to do so. It’s their choice. All they have to do is STOP selling through franchises.
Well then I guess I agree. My opinions are subject to change based on additional information, after all. I stand by my statement of wanting to see an electric car make it without government payouts to keep it afloat.
I can’t wait. Only $900 a month for 72 months, plus of course the annual inspections, and maintenance plans, and maybe battery replacement after four years, and I can be a happy owner. When I want to trade in four years, I’m not sure where I would go-A service center, or the store? And I’m not sure what the trade-in value will be in four years for my investment.
All this hype about a new business model? What exactly is the new business model that is so revolutionary? I’m just not seeing it. Company stores with no commission and paid sales/associates? At some point these folks are going to need to pay for the staff and the stores and the demos and color charts and so on. Or just order a $70K car on line and wait for UPS to deliver it? Really though, dealers do supply some important aspects to major purchases of complicated products whether the green team wants to admit it or not. Of course lets not forget that out power grid is on the verge of overload right now-oh of course roof top solar and wind generators will take care of that. Guess maybe I’ll just put my $50K into ICE right now.
Like I said, I think they should be able to sell through WM if they want, but so should Ford if it makes any sense at all.
But often, buying direct doesn’t save anything on the price and just nets the company more.
Re ; Bose.
If you buy a Bose radio direct mail order it costs the SAME…the SAME as when you buy it at a store or QVC.
Tesla really needs to put their battery factory in Albuquerque. Then they’d be more likely to be driving their Telsas around out here…out here where distance range IS A BIG DEAL.
This alone would really help their R&D and net a better vehicle.
I really don’t care how they sell it, but I’m game to be a parts man.
All this hype about a new business model? What exactly is the new business model that is so revolutionary?
It’s NOT that revolutionary…so why are conservatives afraid of it?
Really though, dealers do supply some important aspects to major purchases of complicated products whether the green team wants to admit it or not.
If the dealership is SO great…and the Tesla selling model is so wrong…then why are you so afraid of it…and why are the dealerships so dead against it. Both should be able to compete and the buying public will make the decision on which is better. Isn’t that what the free-market is all about. Completely stifling the other model is just so anti-American.
Of course lets not forget that out power grid is on the verge of overload right now-oh of course roof top solar and wind generators will take care of that. Guess maybe I'll just put my $50K into ICE right now.
Then don’t buy one. Isn’t that what the free market is all about? Why are you so afraid of it??
I personally won’t be buying one any time soon. Maybe when the prices come down (which may happen when they build their battery plant). But it’s way out range for what I’m willing to pay. At least the battery range is acceptable for a daily commuter vehicle. Just not very good for long trips to visit family in NY.
Mike, I absolutely agree with you. Let the marketplace decide. And if Tesla fails for other reasons but the marketplace likes the free market model, then perhaps we will see cars being purchased through WalMart… or even ordered online… even if Tesla doesn’t survive. Heck, Sears even used to sell houses through their mail order magazine, delivered on-site to be assembled by an authorized contractor… or by the property owner himself if he chose. And why shouldn’t the consumer be able to buy through whatever venue he/she prefers?
Hey, perhaps someday the cars will even be delivered by programmed drones! Imagine THAT if you will! Order a car online and have it delivered to your front door by drone!
Don’t misunderstand me. I don’t live in New Jersey. I’m not afraid at all. In Minnesota there is a sales office and a service location but they both have the same address. I didn’t see them at the car show though so not sure why. They had a whole room full of green cars but no Tesla.
One thing though is that used and new car dealers are licensed by the state. Sell more than five cars in a year and you need a dealer license. Its got nothing to do with the dealer lobbies but rather consumer protection to compel dealers to comply with regulations. So you have to have a license but you don’t need a service staff. Lots of used car dealers have no service facilities. Maybe in some states another licensing option needs to be provided for folks like Tesla to sell direct with no facilities but its consumer protection here not fear or lobbies.
Back about 1952, Sears Roebuck sold a car called the Allstate through some of its Sears stores. The Allstate was really a rebadged Henry J made by Kaiser. I suppose that Sears serviced the cars in its automotive center, but I don’t think Sears counts as an automobile dealer. At any rate, this venture was a flop as was the Henry J and its Allstate version.
Bing, the statutes don’t protect the consumers. Doubt me? Attempt to get a real problem solved through a state agency.
I once put a deposit on a new house with a major realtor (Norwood). The P&S agreement was, as is standard, contingent upon my selling the house I had. I was unable to. The P&S expired and the builder sold the house to someone else. I requested my escrow back, as per law. Norwood approached the builder with a release agreement containing a clause which stipulated that he would not initiate any legal actions in relation to the transaction. Having already sold the house, he just laughed and said “why should I sign that?”. The Norwood refused to release my escrow without his signing the release. I tried filing a complaint with the Board of Realtors. They returned it, stating that they don’t deal with monetary disputes (???). I tried contacting the head of the Board of Realtors. He was the President of the Norwood Group. At this point, months had passed. I contacted my lawyer. His response? “I’m having lunch with the Norwood lawyer tomorrow”. Sit tight. A few days later the check arrived.
I learned some valuable lessons that year. (1) state commerce regulations are often there to protect the industries they regulate from the consumers. (2) the regulatory “boards” are headed and run by the parties that they allegedly regulate. (3) state statutes are written largely by the businesses that they’re supposed to regulate, often enacted through the pressure and payoffs of lobbyists.
Doubt me? Think me paranoid? Credit bureaus ruin innocent people’s lives with erroneous data, yet they’re protected by law from liability. Did any policy maker in a financial institution go to jail from the financial scams of recent years? One individual, Bernie Madoff, did for his own transgressions, but how about the “no-doc” and “low-doc” housing loans? How about the sale of high risk packaged financial bundles (can’t remember the correct term) that had zero real value and were sold to municipalities as secured investments?
Naw, the commerce laws aren’t there to protect us. They’re there to protect those screwing us. And to create revenue streams for the states’ general funds.
One man’s opinion. And I post this knowing it’ll set off a firestorm. But that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.
@TSM,naw I agree with you,the USPS gave me a royal screwing(total cost considering the value of the insured package around $600.00-wouldnt even refund my postage) pass the buck ,pass the buck,everybody wants to boss,but no one wants to be responsible.
Now I’m very careful with whom I deal with,corruption and plain old d@#$%^&s are hard to deal with,I pride myself on being a basically honest man,but when you take it to the OCD,it’ll drive you nuts,so follow the money(most Folks want all they can get{and at the end of lifes arderous journey,they are no happier then the “contented man”} so eat,drink and be merry,maybe the "trickle down "will rain on you yet-Kevin
P.S - do away with lobbies so the gov’t can function correctly
You’d think that all the “creative accounting” that gets employed for tax avoidance (incorporation in tax havens, as just one example) that those same lawyers couldn’t set up some “corporation” to be Tesla’s “dealer” in NJ. Have it be a shell, held by someco that’s held by someco in the Turks/Caicos, and so on…if they were smart they could simultaneously avoid taxes and the new law!