The FTC Is Siding With Tesla Over Dealer Laws

Perhaps Tesla will soon be able to sell cars directly in all 50 states... of course, that still depends on Congress.

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Complex Original

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Tesla Motors doesn't stick with convention, and that's what makes the company great. The Model S is brilliant because it's an unconventional car. If it had stuck with convention it would have sucked like all the other electric cars that came before it. 

Tesla also ignores convention by selling directly to customers, rather than using a series of franchised dealerships. The problem is that in some states this is illegal. Cars must be purchased through an independent dealership because dealer owners paid lawmakers to pass these laws some time ago. Tesla has been challenging them, but has gotten stiff resistance from lawmakers in states like Texas, Arizona, and New Jersey. Who cares about the free market when big campaign donations are coming in?

Now the FTC has made a statement in which it calls the "protectionist" laws "bad policy for a number of reasons." While only congress has the authority to change the laws on a national level, the FTC statement does draw more attention to the issue at hand. "[The legal] protections expanded until in many states they included outright bans on the sale of new cars by anyone other than a dealer-specifically, an auto manufacturer. Instead of "protecting," these state laws became "protectionist," perpetuating one way of selling cars-the independent car dealer."

We're all for cutting out the middle-man and buying direct. Why pay more than we have to in order to support awful local car dealer ads?

RELATED: Elon Musk Explains Why Tesla Doesn't Sell Cars Through Dealerships
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[via Autoblog Green]

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