Tesla Motors has been in a battle with dealerships in certain states for some time now. At the heart of the matter is Tesla’s ability to sell Cars directly to the consumer.
Here is the latest news on that if you are not up on the matter.
I have never seen a better argument for free markets here in the U.S.
After all, what is more free and fair for a company to sell a product without someone else getting in the way for a cut of the action. It also removes control of the manufacturer to ensure exacting customer service that relate to their brand name.
If “you” made a widget, and “you” sold that widget directly on the internet, would you like to be required to sell it only to big box retailers where you can not necessarily control how customers service is preformed? That has a devaluing effect on the name of your product.
Big Box retailers are able to buy directly from the manufacturer and sell to the public, eliminating the middle warehouses that would normally distribute to many retailers. So why should anyone get upset when the manufacture, who has all the rights concerning their product, wants to sell it directly to the folks that want to buy it?
But where are those folks always promoting the free market? It appears that they are not really for free markets unless the argument involves markets that can be manipulated like energy and and publicly traded goods. Yes, in those cases, they want anyone out of the way of folks who could manipulate the price and profits.
It is worth pointing out that the overwhelming majority of the states dealers fighting Tesla are in “RED States”. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
I will add that without Tesla shaking up the market to force everyone to “INNOVATE AGAIN”, where do you think we would be ? As long as there is a “COMPETITIVE FACTOR” in all of this, we will continue to see advancements that benefit us all.
Tesla can not keep up with the demand for their product. This was a unthinkable situation just 5 years ago for a 4th U.S. automotive company, but a 4th car company that survives all the anti-competitive rules we have in place.
If I were Tesla Motors, I would not sell in states where I could not control the customer service of my product. Customer demand would not doubt change the rules with political leaders. But, I’m not sure they can afford to stay out of those states that place anti-competitive rules on them.