Michigan legislative action thread
Posted on 10/22/2014 4:31:03 AM PDT by LogicDesigner
Michigan’s Republican governor signed legislation on Tuesday that officially bans Tesla Motors and any other carmaker from selling directly to consumers in the state.
But Rick Snyder, who is seeking re-election next month, maintained in a letter to lawmakers that the bill simply clarified the state’s existing law and that such direct sales already were not legal in Michigan, home to Detroit’s big auto companies.
Now, state law requires that Tesla, or other car companies, must sell vehicles through networks of franchised dealers. If the company doesn’t have its own network, the state requires it to sell vehicles through another car company’s dealership network.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
So people are mad that the law that was there forever is being applied to Tesla too?
Car dealer protection act. What percentage of a state’s legislature is car dealers? /rhetorical
Look, the political folks for over fifty years have depended greatly on vehicle sales and their regional powerhouse owners to cover campaign costs. If Tesla moves the posts on this, and gets consumers to just view the model online, and sit in one at the local mall....then order their model which is delivered to the home address six weeks later....what’s the method that the political guy gets his campaign money?
As fast as things are moving...I don’t expect real in-house car sales lots to exist by 2030...other than used-car situations.
Note, my wife pursued here in Germany an Audi-TT about seven years ago....via an on-line middleman (no dealership). The guy had a direct connection to Audi, and she saved about $7,000 off the listed price that the dealers wanted. This on-line middle guy basically charged around $500 for his profit and roughly two hours of work was involved in his case. We rode the train down to the factory...they put a full-tank in (compliments of Audi itself), gave us a full-tour of the factory, and gave us a pretty decent free four-course dinner at the factory executive dining facility. There’s not a penny that went to the political player or franchise owner.
Incentives/regulations. Kickbacks/protection money. Dealerships/franchised dealerships. Middleman/MEGAman Red pill/blue pill.
Its a little more complicated than that actually. You see, most longstanding auto dealership laws around the country prevent manufacturers from selling to consumers if the manufacturer also franchises in that state. This is to prevent a manufacturer from undercutting one of their own dealers. However, the laws did not prevent manufacturers who did not have franchised dealers from running their own dealerships.
The situation in Michigan was considered to be open to interpretation, which would have allowed a way for Tesla to open its own dealerships. The governor and the VP of Auto Dealers of Michigan claim that the law didn't change anything. Which begs the question, why put in language that clarifies that all cars must go through franchised dealerships? They were worried.
By the way, the governor gets lots of donations from auto dealers.
The dealership experience is almost uniformly disliked, by everyone who’s ever bought a new car. Give them the service function and use the showroom for a car or two. No salesmen, just a couple of customer service people to handle test drives. Questions would be answered online. The lot can go over to higher margin used cars. Cut the price on new to reflect the lack of dealer markup.
Pretty much.
If Tesla were honest, they would go to the other manufacturers and say “Let’s work together to change this bad law” or they would simply do what it takes to open dealerships. Instead they do the progressive thing and go looking for special carve outs for themselves while screaming bloody murder. I think there is also some pro democrat election politics behind this.
Between their paid posters, suing over bad reviews, and this kind of crap they really don’t deserve any respect.
Time for Tesla to open dealerships in South Bend Indiana and Toledo Ohio.
That is a brilliant idea. I'm sure the other automakers would love to help their new competitor move into new markets.
Tesla currently has one vehicle model for sale. Franchised dealers often own multiple dealerships from different manufacturers which means that Tesla would likely be one of several that a franchisee owns. Would such a dealer be motivated to tell their customers the ways electric cars are better than gasoline cars when most of their inventory is gasoline cars? I think not. Tesla was smart enough to realize this.
“Instead they do the progressive thing and go looking for special carve outs for themselves while screaming bloody murder.”
Wow, in this situation it is the dealers who are looking for special carve outs and “protection” from the free market yet somehow you completely overlook this. Incredible.
“Between their paid posters, suing over bad reviews, and this kind of crap they really don’t deserve any respect.”
I'm guessing anyone who disagrees with you is a “paid poster,” am I right? Regarding their lawsuit, they did not sue over bad reviews, they sued Top Gear for lying about a Tesla running out of battery on the race track when it did not. Top Gear admitted they staged the whole thing but claimed that they run an “entertainment” show so they shouldn't be required to tell the truth.
You and your company are lying cowards.
It's a dumb law that increases cost for consumers while providing zero benefit. It should be repealed in every state where it exists.
Congratulations! Your logical fallacy is “ad hominem”.
“You attacked your opponent's character or personal traits in an attempt to undermine their argument.
Ad hominem attacks can take the form of overtly attacking somebody, or more subtly casting doubt on their character or personal attributes as a way to discredit their argument. The result of an ad hom attack can be to undermine someone’s case without actually having to engage with it.”
By the way, Tesla is not “my company” nor am I getting paid to post this. I just happen to be disappointed by all the baloney that is spread about electric cars.
The dealership model serves no purpose except to inflate costs for consumers. There's no public purpose served in telling a private business how to sell their cars.
In other words, the law is superfluous.
The governor claims it is superfluous... the auto dealers’ politicians supposedly pushed this law through for no apparent reason. In reality, it is easier to claim the law does nothing instead of admitting that it made it harder for Tesla to do business in Michigan.
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