Tesla Stores May Be Closed After N.J. Blocks Direct Sales
Governor Chris Christie’s administration blocked Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA), the electric-car maker that doesn’t have franchised retail dealers, from direct auto sales in a move the company said could shutter its only two stores in New Jersey.
The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, which includes members of Christie’s cabinet, unanimously approved the proposal yesterday in Trenton, delaying public comment on the matter until after the hearing. Tesla said it learned only a day earlier, after months of negotiations, that the rule change was coming to the most densely populated U.S. state, which is important for reaching customers in the New York metro area.
Christie “has gone back on his word,” Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said on Twitter prior to the vote. “His administration, under pressure from auto dealers, may shut down Tesla in NJ as soon as today.”
Tesla is battling dealers state by state to secure or protect the right to sell its cars directly to consumers. Auto dealers in Ohio, New York, Minnesota,Georgia and elsewhere in the past year have sought to block Tesla from directly retailing its models, arguing that independent retailers are better for shoppers and owners of vehicles. Texas dealers successfully backed a law setting the nation’s toughest restrictions on Tesla. Arizona, Colorado andVi
The entrenched middle men win again. Another example of how government exists for the connected
I guess NJ owners will be humping it into NYC for service.
Good old ‘business friendly’ new jerkey
Hypocrisy 101:
Like a lot of Republicans, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie likes to talk about how the government should get out of the way of the free market. In a speech last week in Washington, D.C., he railed against President Obama’s economic interventions. “We don’t have an income inequality problem, we have an opportunity problem in this country because government’s trying to control the free market,” he said. And he urged his fellow conservatives to shout their opposition to government regulations from the rooftops. “We need to talk about the fact that we’re for a free-market society that allows your effort and your ingenuity to determine your success, not the cold, hard hand of government determining winners and losers.”
https://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/03/12/new_jersey_tesla_ban_chris_christie_loves_free_market_blocks_direct_car.html?wpisrc=burger_bar
exactly why we ran the article
The state of NJ to innovative new companies trying to change the world: “Buzz off. We don’t want you in NJ.”
There goes the idea of a Tesla showroom at the old Brogan Cadillac, Ken Smith Chevrolet, or Town Garage sites… maybe Ben & Jerry’s can expand ?
Hillary just got her first attack ad for 2016
“what difference does it make “