Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers Joins Tesla In War With Dealerships Associations

June 19th, 2014 by James Ayre

Tesla’s recent gains in its war with many of the nation’s car dealership associations, and the accompanying effects, appear to be making many of the higher-ups in said associations decidedly uncomfortable (to put it mildly).

Part of this is no doubt coming from the fact that Tesla’s recent successes have seemingly enlivened other far larger established manufacturers to come out against the franchise system, via the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which represents a significant number of major manufacturers. Said alliance recently publicly noted that dealers currently possess too much power.

Humorously(?), the chairman of the Automotive Trade Association Executives responded to the news that the Alliance was coming out against the franchise system by stating that the whole situation was a “recipe for disaster.” Lol. For who/what exactly? The dealers and probably no one and nothing else? 🙂

The recent statements from the Alliance were pretty blunt in this regard, explaining the nature of the current situation/system rather clearly.

“At the request of local dealer groups, states set up a labyrinth of protectionist laws that make the car-buying experience difficult and costly for our customers,” explained spokeswoman Gloria Bergquist, representing the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.

“It’s understandable why Tesla or future competitors would want a simpler sales process. When we look at the big picture, we may be at a tipping point. If dealer groups continue their push for more onerous franchise laws, we will be forced to keep an open mind about how best to serve new-car buyers in the future.”

Boom.

Looks like it’s not just a war with Tesla now. Easy to see why the dealers are becoming very uncomfortable.

On the subject of recent gains, it looks like Tesla will once again be able to sell direct to customers in New York and New Jersey with a pair of successes in those states.

In New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law a pro-Tesla bill that had passed earlier in the year. And, in New Jersey, the Assembly approved a bill that would make a loophole for direct sales of zero-emissions vehicles. 🙂









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