[LogicDesigner]

“I still think Musk is just trying to keep hidden how little actual profit there is in his vehicles.”

I don't think having franchised dealers would change that. Ultimately dealers are just middlemen, buying the car from the manufacturer for X price and selling it for Y price. They don't get into the inner workings of the price the manufacturer charges them.

[jjotto]

Giving dealers a cut would move it from Mercedes - Lexus - BMW competitors to the Maserati - Bentley - Aston-Martin range, a much smaller market.

Dealer sales are monitored a lot more closely than Tesla sales are now.