NY Auto Dealers Revving Up for Battle With Tesla
from 24/7 Wall Street.com:
http://247wallst.com/autos/2014/03/14/ny-auto-dealers-revving-up-for-battle-with-tesla/
Auto dealers in New York failed last April to get a state court to reverse a ruling by the state’s motor vehicle department approving the direct sale of its cars by Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA). But the car dealers have not given up, and a recent ban on Tesla’s sales model in New Jersey and another battle shaping up in Ohio has sent the dealers in search of sympathetic state legislators.
If New York car dealers are successful in their efforts to ban direct sales by car makers, New York will join New Jersey, Arizona, Colorado and Texas, where Tesla has been prohibited from selling cars directly to customers. In Virginia the company was able to negotiate a compromise that permits the company to sell directly from one store only
Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk has not impressed politicians as much as he has technocrats and investors. Perhaps that is because he does not spread any money around. The New Jersey auto dealers donated nearly $700,000 to New Jersey politicians in the years between 2003 and 2009. And in politics, money talks and bullshit walks.
