A proposal to restrain Tesla in New York
Source: Capital New York
Tesla would no longer be able to sell its luxury electric vehicles directly to consumers under a new bill in the New York State Legislature.
Groups representing the state's automobile dealers met with Governor Andrew Cuomo in November to push a bill that would prevent automobile manufacturers from selling their vehicles directly to consumers, public schedules show. Deborah Dorman, president of the Eastern New York Coalition of Auto Dealers, was at that meeting and said Tuesday Cuomo aides told the group the governor would sign the bill if it passes.
She said the bill was designed to protect consumers because it required companies to create a storefront in the state and was not directed at Tesla because it sold electric vehicles. Some environmentalists have claimed the bill unfairly targets electric car manufacturers.
Read more: http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2014/02/8540876/proposal-restrain-tesla-new-york
Trying to kill the electric car, again.
sharp_stick
(14,400 posts)or has already done the same thing.
Can't do anything to disrupt the easy money from a dealer network.
ChairmanAgnostic
(28,017 posts)they were first concocted to insulate car makers from negligence and product liability suits
Now they use mandatory arbitration clauses to accomplish the same thing
yurbud
(39,405 posts)Kelvin Mace
(17,469 posts)in NC after Musk showed up in Raleigh and literally gave test drives to the governor and the speaker of the NC house.
http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/27/tesla-victory-north-carolina/
ChairmanAgnostic
(28,017 posts)Talk about a total non-starter of a bad idea.
Ruby the Liberal
(26,219 posts)You have to pay sales tax in order to register in most states. Hell, Florida even charges (or used to) a hefty "move from another state" fee. The tax would have been cheaper for me.
ChairmanAgnostic
(28,017 posts)okwmember
(345 posts)Most states charge sales tax on vehicles purchased in the last 6 months outside the state. Most also credit the sales tax from the other state so you only pay the difference or none at all if the taxes in the first state are more.
GeorgeGist
(25,321 posts)MicaelS
(8,747 posts)I'm a Texan, so I can bash Texas, thank you very much. The fucking Legislature cowed right down to, and has been bought off by the Car Dealers and has prevented Tesla from selling direct. Not that I could afford to buy a Tesla, but it still sucks, and it is wrong.
http://jalopnik.com/how-texas-absurd-anti-tesla-laws-turn-car-buying-into-1451492195
In 2012, dealership interests "invested" more than $2.5 million in the Texas legislative elections, according to the the watchdog group Texans For Public Justice. Sixty percent of Texas lawmakers received checks from TADA in 2012.
Two elderly billionaire car dealers, Tom Friedkin and Red McCombsthe latter is also chairman of the former Blackwater security firmkicked in more than a million dollars between them.
Tesla, meanwhile, made no direct political contributions.
It just proves that money really is speech.
okaawhatever
(9,462 posts)parts and repair service is available for car owners. Are they training mechanics to repair them or offering certification for existing ASE mechanics?
HappyMe
(20,277 posts)What if the thing breaks?
It isn't as if I could afford a Tesla any way.
SunSeeker
(51,569 posts)frylock
(34,825 posts)Ruby the Liberal
(26,219 posts)I know they repair remote or at service centers - but for those of us in annual inspection states - can that be done by anyone?
Zorro
(15,740 posts)There's a stripped down frame of the Model S in Tesla's San Diego showroom that shows the electric motor in the back, optional adjustable air shocks, the steering mechanism up front, and the battery beneath the car. That's about it.
It's mechanically very simple compared to a standard internal combustion engine with all the accompanying belts and hoses.
sir pball
(4,743 posts)I doubt the dealers care whether the vehicle is electric, or petro, or unicorn-fart...as long as THEY get to sell it and make money. I'm sure the "traditional" manufacturers would love to be able to pocket the dealer markup.
okwmember
(345 posts)Xithras
(16,191 posts)Tesla should open up dealer franchising at no cost to anyone who wants one, at no charge. As a condition of the franchising, they should require dealers to fully disclose all markups and dealer fees.
After that, Tesla should create a subsidiary offering web services to their dealer networks, including car sales. Allow those dealers to subcontract their online sales tools back to Tesla's subsidiary (something that no state can ban, because doing so would be an imposition on interstate trade and would be unconstitutional). After that, the main Tesla site can simply direct buyers to a list of dealers in their own state who can handle the sales. Cars will continue to be delivered directly.
The free market will do the rest. If a dealer wants to spend a million dollars on a shiny facility and tack on a $5000 per car markup to pay for it, he'll have a hell of a time competing against the guy who spends $400 a month to rent an office the size of a closet, sells only online through HIS DEALERSHIPS website, and only tacks on a few hundred bucks to cover his profit and overhead.
NobodyHere
(2,810 posts)Let's not have some stupid useless law that companies have to work around.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)valerief
(53,235 posts)EC
(12,287 posts)that a dealership could show? I don't see any need of anything more than an on-line order blank or an office front in big cities needed. So putting a dealership in states as they are requiring is not good business. So what do they want them to do? Have another dealership sell them for Tesla and take a cut? Still not good business.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)Seems to me TESLA could make a deal to charge customers and then pay those taxes to New York if that would help clear the cars for sale.
Progressive dog
(6,904 posts)You cannot get license plates or title for a car in NY until the sales tax is paid.
Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)Tesla buyers need to be pressured into paying for pinstripes, Lojack, Scotchguard on the seats, and extended warranties, just like buyers of other vehicles.
Oh, and they also need to be subjected to the fast-talking slick-suited finance guy.
I love car dealerships.
SunSeeker
(51,569 posts)savannah43
(575 posts)What most of us really care about is the air--not corporate profits, you greedy cretins.
Ruby the Liberal
(26,219 posts)Don't be stupid New York. Price will skyrocket if they add another layer to the sales process.
BanzaiBonnie
(3,621 posts)As far as I see, a car company should be able to seek their cars in any way they want.
Oh, perhaps dealerships want to keep their high stakes game rolling. Can't go buy a car without going through a middle man.
Free market, my ass.