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Texas promotes itself as having a “business friendly” environment. Yet according to an ABC News “Nightline” story that was recently posted online at Yahoo News, the Texas State Legislature 
under pressure from the Texas Automobile Dealers Association, has banned the sale of Tesla automobiles in the state.
The report says that the all-electric Tesla Model S which boasts quarter mile times in the 12’s, a 300 mile range per re-charge and has received the highest safety ratings given from the National Transportation and Safety Board, has been banned for sale in Texas because of its business plan to offer sales directly to the public rather than through franchised dealerships.
In the report, Tesla Company CEO Elon Musk says that his company’s marketing plan is one of education rather than the hard sell. He believes that the public wants an alternative to high-pressure sales situations that he sees as detrimental to the automotive industry as a whole. To this end, Tesla sales associates are not paid on commission and are there only to give information and demonstrate the advantages of the all-electric car versus their petroleum-powered counterparts.
Electric power, amazing safety ratings, direct sales and surprising performance are not enough to crack the Texas automotive marketplace. Unless the 'good ole boys' get their cut, Texas consumers are out of luck!
Musk also believes that because the dealers association is so intertwined with the self interest of established industries (oil companies, giant auto manufacturers etc.) that the Tesla would not be marketed fairly under the established franchised dealer system.
The president of the Texas Automobile Dealers Association, Bill Wolters disagrees. In the report Wolters says that if exceptions were made to the Texas Franchise laws that eventually, “…the integrity of the entire franchise system is in peril.” He also says of Musk, “…he is typically not somebody who has been told no very much.”
Tesla’s marketing plan seems be a concern beyond the Texas borders. Although their sales have not been skyrocketing, similar attempts to ban Tesla’s direct sales business model are also underway in Colorado, Virginia and North Carolina. Evidently competition in the marketplace is not necessarily good for everyone concerned.
So what do you think? Should Tesla be forced into taking on “partners” that they don’t trust? Do you think that the auto sales franchises are right to protect their own interests? Do you see the Tesla going the way of the Tucker? What you think matters. Let us know in the comments section!
