Lawmakers in New York state are moving to shut down Elon Musk’s Tesla dealerships in yet another blow to the billionaire CEO.
New York State Sen. Patricia Fahy and other lawmakers are fighting to remove a waiver that allows Tesla to operate five in-person dealerships in New York, instead forcing the company to sell their vehicles through dealer franchises, The New York Times reported Sunday.
“No matter what we do, we’ve got to take this from Elon Musk,” Fahy said in March when she first introduced the bill against Tesla. “He’s part of an effort to go backwards.”
She wants the company to relinquish its 5 licenses and instead distribute them to other EV manufacturers, such as Rivian, Scout Motors, and Lucid.
Dispite my comment below yours, I also disagree with what NY is doing here. I think the most innovating thing Tesla ever did was normalizing direct-selling to customers. It’s part of the reason why I (regrettably) defended the company/cars so long even if I knew Musk was a POS for years. Dealerships are horrible for consumers.
This reads like auto dealer lobbyists getting what they want being passed off as “progress”.
They would transfer the licenses that were granted to them exclusively, not eliminate them.
Seems like the right thing to do anyway. Why should Tesla have all 5. They get enough government help as is, why give them the monopoly?
The wrong part is making them exclusive to Tesla but you don’t right a wrong by committing another wrong: this is not valid ground to revoke a business license
Fix the exclusive part. Every dealership is limited to five locations: Tesla, Rivian, Jones Honda, etc. and yes, a manufacturer that controls a market can not compete against a dealership in that market. Fair. Consistent.
Then sue and try musk for his horrible actions. The rule of law should be impartial: if you don’t want to support his companies, don’t. If you find like minded people, great. Your actions are based on your morals, but law should be objective
The obvious response would be that customers deserve to buy vehicles from the manufacturer without dealing with middleman stealership BS. Under your definition, American Eagle jeans has a “monopoly.”
They only have 5 licenses to give out. Why hide them all the Tesla?
Sure, the 5 number is artificial limit created by the government. But if they only have 5, give 1 to each company.
The limitation is a handout to car assholes.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/05/rich-republicans-party-car-dealers-2024-desantis.html
? Forcing Tesla to sell through dealers instead of direct-to-customer would eliminate the licenses. I’m confused about what you think “transferring the licenses [to dealers]” means, if not “Tesla can no longer sell direct.”
Yes, this isn’t a punshment for Musk as much as a revival of a subsidy for car assholes.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/05/rich-republicans-party-car-dealers-2024-desantis.html
Yeah bending the law/weaponizing bureaucracy like this to attack him so indirectly just doesn’t seem appropriate and even if we want to ignore that, it sets a dangerous precedent. I don’t want Texas or Alabama taking notes.