Tesla Faces Possible Prohibition of Sales in Michigan

Yeah, Michigan is WAY behind times.

Site

From the above link...

Surprisingly, New Jersey is not the first. Colorado, Texas, Arizona, and Virginia have all prohibited Tesla from selling cars in their states.

To be fair, I believe New Jersey passed an amendment to their statute that allowed direct from manufacturer sales for " zero emission vehicles" after a big news dust-up.

a reply to: 0bservant

Just how does that protect the consumers? That bill only protects teslas competition.

I am glad that Tesla does not have to worry about that up here in BC. I know of at least one refueling station in our province and I am sure it wont be the only one. Tesla cars are popping up everywhere up here its awesome.

Don't idealize it and the pseudo-futurists behind it. They use perceived "superiority" to promote their own agendas.

Isn't that being protectionist? Pretty darn sure unconstitutional and an onstruction to running a perfectly legit business. Just because you may not like a particular business ( as long as they aren't doing something illegal like selling drugs, prostitution, etc.) doesn't mean you can pass laws to circumvent the constitution. The Institute for Justice has done alot of work into this type of thing, all it'll take is a lawsuit to put an end to that idiocy.

I had a lengthy conversation with a gentleman who owns a Tesla. He said he thinks of gas stations the same way most of us now think about photo developing places. Just completely obsolete.

My wife and seriously considered getting one but we just don't drive enough for it to pay for itself in a reasonable amount of time. If we had money to burn it wouldn't be an issueland I'd drive one just on principal, but that isn't the case.

Screw Michigan and anywhere else that willfully stays in the dark ages.

This is one that I may or may not have a little bit of a different view point on as I am a salesman.

First off, I have to believe that they're making an example out of Tesla with this. Win or Loose, I think that may be besides the point. Its the example and the happening of it in the first place that is the point.

Secondly, and one thing many of you I doubt are even thinking about is that if this did go through, how many car makers do you think would follow suit? What I am getting at is how many people does just 1 dealership employ? I know my dealership has over 100 employees being Sales, Finance, Mechanics, and Office. We need to keep these jobs alive. I just cant rap my head around it. For a good while now I've tried to understand Tesla's way of doing business.

You just have to look at all sides before making a complete decision on the subject. Who's life is effected by this? How is it? How Badly? Is there any GOOD that could come out of it?

a reply to: 0bservant

Well what the hell... Michigan must make a lot of money on fuel taxes...

This also means I can't order my Lamborghini direct in Michigan... Or my Phantom. Messed up man.

I have a lot more to say but I'm tired. Ill revisit tomorrow. Sad stuff.

a reply to: GARN40ish

It's not like there won't be dealers, it's the fact that the prices would be driven down from the crazy prices they are right now, and that is good for the end consumer.

It's a companies own choice to do factory direct, and the fact that these more mature companies didn't think of it first is pissing them off. It will be their own fault if employees lose jobs when they downsize to accommodate for their past mistakes.
I come with a business management background, and the only empathy I have is for the customers getting gouged simply because they have to deal with price-fixed the markets.

Cheaper is better. Competition is healthy.
Let's start fixing our mistakes, instead of maintaining them.

originally posted by: 0bservant
a reply to: GARN40ish

It's not like there won't be dealers, it's the fact that the prices would be driven down from the crazy prices they are right now, and that is good for the end consumer.

It's a companies own choice to do factory direct, and the fact that these more mature companies didn't think of it first is pissing them off. It will be their own fault if employees lose jobs when they downsize to accommodate for their past mistakes.
I come with a business management background, and the only empathy I have is for the customers getting gouged simply because they have to deal with price-fixed the markets.

Cheaper is better. Competition is healthy.
Let's start fixing our mistakes, instead of maintaining them.

Hate to be a spoil-sport, but having a dealership in the middle is only an increase in cost and price... Not the other way around.

Consider that in order for a manufacturer to provide vehicles to dealerships across every country - they have to have storage facilities, transportation utilities ( plane train automobile ), and I'm sure they have to pay more taxes in order to conduct business this way.

Now consider that every one of those items ( off the top of my head at 7:45 in the morning ) gets passed down to the dealer - as Most dealerships are privately owned ( generally by a dealer conglomerate ). This means that the dealer is paying for cost And potential variances in cost with every vehicle on their lot - say 5% added on to every vehicle that goes from a manufacturing plant to a dealer.

Now that you calculate that in, consider that due to this, the dealer's profit margin on any particular vehicle is similarly reduced. This means that the dealer now has every right, and motivation, to tack on another tidbit. Having worked in the car industry for years; as a salesman at one point, I can say that this tidbit is as much as 15% of the vehicle's actual cost to the dealer.

Now - the math there isn't a '15-20% increase' - and I'm not particularly inclined to figure out exactly what it works out to - but it's somewhere in that ballpark.

Manufacturer direct sales are by far cheaper for the end user.

Now, the $60,000 Tesla Model S will be more like a $75,000 Tesla Model S.

a reply to: DigitalJedi805

Sorry, didn't meant to imply that having a dealer was cheaper. In fact, my argument was exactly what you just stated.

It's like buying your marijuana from a dealer instead of a grower... it's obviously going to be cheaper from the supplier that has the higher quantity to sell and no middleman taking a chunk of the profit pie.

Well maybe if all of Elons employees paid the family 20% protection he wouldn't have these little problems

No problem. It's their loss on sales tax. And it means more sales from the four Tesla dealerships around Chicago or the ones in Indiana or Ohio, if not in Toronto, Canada. (No Tesla dealers in Michigan currently anyways.)

Humans for the most part are selfish greedy and mean creatures so this sorta thing isnt a big surprise to me. My mothers stefather had built a new type of motor that used some kind of electro magnetics in a way he believed no one knew and may still be unknown to science as a whole. He claims he had realized something about magnetic feilds n the way they flux into a current that he used in this motor and believed it to be significant s from what I understand one of his family members was helping to try n get him recognition n maybe some funding but it wasnt long before the family member came up missing along with another n the family so my mothers stepfather went into secrecy with it. He believed it to be the big oil but nothing could prove it. Corporate greed is at the heart of the problem n michigan and I agree with funkadeliaaaa n second what she proposes.

Yes well America now has a Corporatocracy for it's government.

And it eats it's young corporately too, free markets can win, but corporate greed rules the day making it lose for consumers. So many companies have been ruined after they get bought by a bigger player.

UPDATE


Big surprise here:
GM says it supports 'anti-Tesla' bill on Gov. Rick Snyder's desk
Looks like changes were made to the bill at the last minute, before it could be vetted....

And Michigan is not the only anti-Tesla state:

Tesla, which sells its cars in at least 22 states, typically out of shopping mall storefronts, has already run into what some see as dealership-backed laws preventing its direct-to-consumer sales in places such as Texas, Arizona, New Jersey, and to some degree, Maryland, according to Maron. In those instances, he said dealerships have been trying to protect their traditional sales structure against Tesla's unique model.

I'm too lazy to bother looking it up but weren't there some red states planning on the implementation of an extra tax for drivers of hybrids and electric vehicles? I believe their justification was that since these people don't contribute for infrastructure via paying gas tax they should have to pay in other ways.

Lol, the USA is a lobbyist run toilet

a reply to: 0bservant

My apologies - I may have completely misinterpreted your post. I blame a lack of coffee... Or something.