Tesla has obviously woken the tiger. Obviously it was easy enough to see that the other oil industry and also the worlds' competing auto manufacturers were always going to be putting up a fight, but Tesla knew what it was getting itself into with respect to these competitors and by all accounts the playing field and rules were known.
I would strongly suggest that Tesla has likely underestimated the effect that its presence - and more importantly, its marketing plan - would have on some other specific players in this industry, which are the individual dealership principles that exist in countless numbers in each and every single community that exists in the developed world.
Make no mistake this is currently Tesla's biggest threat. Auto dealers make more money than god, and as a combined force fighting for one cause with more voices than you could imagine screaming in every legislators' ear in every constituency in this world they will not go away quietly. They are fighting for their lives right now.
Their fight is not necessarily against electric vehicles - and Tesla would be making a horrific miscalculation if their strategies made this assumption. It is the oil industry and auto manufacturers who have picked that fight. Auto dealers have to protect themselves from being made obsolete from their own product suppliers. If Tesla is allowed to sell directly as Elon is pushing, then their existence will cease to exist almost overnight as other manufacturers will have to be allowed to compete with Tesla in the same manner.
That said - has it dawned on anyone that these dealers who have been complaining to their legislators may have legitimate concerns? It is very easy for us as Tesla supporters to just dismiss their complaints as being unreasonable and unjustified simply on the basis that they're afraid of a competitor walking onto their turf and outperforming them.
I think it could be fatal of Tesla to ignore their concerns and attempt to just ram Elon's Master Plan down their throats.
There are countless auto dealers that pay more taxes than most businesses, pay good wages, and are a big part of the social fabric in every community on the planet. And make no mistake - legislators in North Carolina, New York and Texas do not get elected by ignoring their wage earners, their taxpayers, their communities, and their most powerful constituents in favor for a company that bases itself in California.
These dealers have massive investments in real estate, capital, infrastructure, and people. It would be foolish to think that they are just going to let the Tesla's of the world saddle up to their dinner table and take the food that they have been feeding their families for generation after generation. This is a fight to the death for them.
I've heard posters on this forum or in news articles suggest on ways to circumvent some of these laws - attempt to bypass them through loopholes in delivery processes, ordering processes, definitions of dealerships etc. I've also heard Elon say himself that maybe the company needs to take this on at the federal level.
I think this is a mistake. Legislators will close loopholes if they have to. And forcing things down the states throats through legislation is not going to make this company any friends on the state and community level.
The best approach is to listen to what their concerns are and try to find a real solution. This may even require compromise. But to go around and scream that the legislators are idiots who don't know what they are doing and try to impose your will on them is not going to be a cost-effective solution because its going to have to be done in each and every single jurisdiction that Tesla comes across.
I would strongly suggest that Tesla has likely underestimated the effect that its presence - and more importantly, its marketing plan - would have on some other specific players in this industry, which are the individual dealership principles that exist in countless numbers in each and every single community that exists in the developed world.
Make no mistake this is currently Tesla's biggest threat. Auto dealers make more money than god, and as a combined force fighting for one cause with more voices than you could imagine screaming in every legislators' ear in every constituency in this world they will not go away quietly. They are fighting for their lives right now.
Their fight is not necessarily against electric vehicles - and Tesla would be making a horrific miscalculation if their strategies made this assumption. It is the oil industry and auto manufacturers who have picked that fight. Auto dealers have to protect themselves from being made obsolete from their own product suppliers. If Tesla is allowed to sell directly as Elon is pushing, then their existence will cease to exist almost overnight as other manufacturers will have to be allowed to compete with Tesla in the same manner.
That said - has it dawned on anyone that these dealers who have been complaining to their legislators may have legitimate concerns? It is very easy for us as Tesla supporters to just dismiss their complaints as being unreasonable and unjustified simply on the basis that they're afraid of a competitor walking onto their turf and outperforming them.
I think it could be fatal of Tesla to ignore their concerns and attempt to just ram Elon's Master Plan down their throats.
There are countless auto dealers that pay more taxes than most businesses, pay good wages, and are a big part of the social fabric in every community on the planet. And make no mistake - legislators in North Carolina, New York and Texas do not get elected by ignoring their wage earners, their taxpayers, their communities, and their most powerful constituents in favor for a company that bases itself in California.
These dealers have massive investments in real estate, capital, infrastructure, and people. It would be foolish to think that they are just going to let the Tesla's of the world saddle up to their dinner table and take the food that they have been feeding their families for generation after generation. This is a fight to the death for them.
I've heard posters on this forum or in news articles suggest on ways to circumvent some of these laws - attempt to bypass them through loopholes in delivery processes, ordering processes, definitions of dealerships etc. I've also heard Elon say himself that maybe the company needs to take this on at the federal level.
I think this is a mistake. Legislators will close loopholes if they have to. And forcing things down the states throats through legislation is not going to make this company any friends on the state and community level.
The best approach is to listen to what their concerns are and try to find a real solution. This may even require compromise. But to go around and scream that the legislators are idiots who don't know what they are doing and try to impose your will on them is not going to be a cost-effective solution because its going to have to be done in each and every single jurisdiction that Tesla comes across.