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Tesla sales (and service?) center in Natick
- Thread starter csd
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- New England USA
Here is a posting with information on the Board of Selectmen meeting in Natick that forum members were part of. And they did an awesome job!
I just got home. What an enormous showing! We took up more than half the room.
LOL @Robert and @Jim. Jim, I can literally hear your voice saying "Gents just great." hehe
Robert -- nice representation up there. You've clearly done this before. Very calm, put together; great arguments. Loved it.
Wendy (store manager) -- nicely done! Really impressed with how calm and collected you were up there. I'd be a nervous wreckHere's another high-five to ya!
Tom (customer -- not sure he's on here?) -- also good to hear from you up there!
Clearly everyone was on board from a "Tesla's cool and they're doing cool things" and it all came down to the board issuing a license if they believe it wasn't illegal to do so. As the Chairman put it, they have the authority to grant the license. And, legally speaking, everything's legal. The only point of contention, really, was the bit about Tesla Motors, Inc. selling directly to the consumer. That's why 1) There's a Tesla Motors MA, Inc., 2) there's a third building acting as the sales facility and 3) the sales and service will be under Tesla Motors MA. Granted, Tesla Motors MA is solely owned by Tesla Motors, and whether that's "in the spirit of the law" has some people worried, but the board was (mostly) willing to see beyond that.
I almost felt like going up there and saying "guys, stop talking about Tesla, innovation, blah blah blah and just talk about this one primary concern -- the idea of the manufacturer selling directly to the customer; get to the legality -- is the Tesla MA corp enough? Is that still an issue? Can you do something like "license only valid if no franchises" sort of thing? ...." An amazing amount of time felt wasted to me going on about what turned out to be irrelevant stuff and it was starting to put me on edge. Luckily the Chairman reigned it in (also really liked him). Both he (Mr. Joseph) and Mr. Ostroff "spoke my language" -- well-informed, smart individuals. The legal representation seemed top notch (Tesla and town counsel, at least). Really enjoyed hearing their concise to-the-point information.
MetroWest Daily News has it: Natick selectmen grant license to Tesla cars - Framingham, MA - The MetroWest Daily News
Never attended anything like this before; I know virtually nothing about how government works or the law. I'm honored to have been a part of it.
Board of Selectmen, etc: http://natickma.virtualtownhall.net/Public_Documents/NatickMA_Admin/index?textPage=1
Agenda: http://natickma.virtualtownhall.net/Public_Documents/NatickMA_SelectmenAgenda/I019F4560
Looks like they're behind on the minutes (a couple months -- but the dates don't quite line up right?) so no link there.
The 251 W Central St location will be a "sales office" -- where people can get test drives and deal with the paperwork of buying a car. The Gallery in the Natick Mall will remain a display area only, with no sales activities -- status quo. All physical repairs/service will occur in the Watertown facility.
Tesla must have its Class 1 Dealer license to give test drives, and that license was granted on the condition that the West Natick sales office be open. So, either the sales office is open or Tesla is getting ahead of itself.
