I was in The Galleria mall in Houston Sunday, and they have a "showroom" with 2-3 cars in it (they were closing so I didn't have time to stop and look). I wonder what the point was, and if they have any pending orders here.
Texas won't allow Tesla to sell electric cars directly
141–150 of 183 posts
Re: Texas won't allow Tesla to sell electric cars directly
#142Given the history of bankruptcies in the car manufacturing space, it would be interesting to see how the effect of mandated dealerships affected the overall profit margins and viability of the car manufacturers.
Think about it for a second. Requiring a car manufacturer to sell cars through a dealership network naturally reduces profit margins for the car manufacturer thus affecting their long-term viability.
Re: Texas won't allow Tesla to sell electric cars directly
#143Well, the Tesla dealership in Shreveport, Louisiana will be happy to hear that.
Re: Texas won't allow Tesla to sell electric cars directly
#144Earlier quoted context omitted.
The metaphor is cute, but maybe overstated. Tesla isn't doing this because it's what a self healing network would do. Tesla is doing this because it's a rapidly-growing startup whose production facilities are heavily oversubscribed already. They have no net downsides to giving up the "Texas" market for now, because they don't have enough cars to sell even without Texas (and the handful of other such states). Eventual…
> IMHO, things make much more sense when you argue in fact instead of metaphor. This is true. However, are you actually arguing in fact? Your statements read as an outside agent judging the intentions and motivations of other agents. Perhaps you're part of one of the groups and actually possess insider knowledge here? Another potential outsider's reading of the bets and motivations at play (this taken from nearly 4 y…
>This is true. However, are you actually arguing in fact?
The whole point of arguing in fact is that you can prove someone wrong! The poster makes specific claims and you rebut them -- if I cared enough, I could do some investigation and see who is correct.
That's not true when an argument consists entirely of a metaphor.
Re: Texas won't allow Tesla to sell electric cars directly
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
Other car manufacturers can't sell directly. Why should Tesla get special rules?
> Other car manufacturers can't sell directly. Why is this (I'm not familiar with the way it works in the US)?
State-sanctioned corruption.
If you're looking for the justifications, here's an explanation from a Cato article (pp. 3-6):
Why Restrictions on Online Auto Sales?
The franchise laws that inhibit the new business models for car sales from spreading online are defended as being important for protecting dealers and consumers from automobile manufacturers. Defenses of those laws, which became widespread in the 1950s, revolve around two arguments: first, that restrictive franchise laws are needed to protect consumers and, second, that such laws are needed to protect distributors from rapacious manufacturers[...]
Re: Texas won't allow Tesla to sell electric cars directly
#146What's not very clear in this article is that Texas has always been pretty good about keeping politicians out of office. So depending on your view of government, that's either a really great thing or really terrible one.
That doesn't make any sense. Are politicians born with a magic birthmark that allows one to differentiate them from non-politicians? Politicians adapt themselves to the carrots and sticks of their environment, just like CEOs, blue-collar laborers, and everybody else. For better or worse, they are a reflection of their constituency.
There is a difference between politicians that work for the people, and career politicians that work for themselves.
Re: Texas won't allow Tesla to sell electric cars directly
#147Earlier quoted context omitted.
That doesn't make any sense. Are politicians born with a magic birthmark that allows one to differentiate them from non-politicians? Politicians adapt themselves to the carrots and sticks of their environment, just like CEOs, blue-collar laborers, and everybody else. For better or worse, they are a reflection of their constituency.
There is a difference between politicians that work for the people, and career politicians that work for themselves.
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Re: Texas won't allow Tesla to sell electric cars directly
#148Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, it's an example of government as envisioned by the founders working as intended - when someone at the state level overreaches, a federal court strikes it down (I'm hoping the same thing happens to this absurd law regarding dealer sales). This happens in more places than just Texas. Doesn't change the fact that your first statement is not factual anymore. Given time I think we (Texans) can eventually stop / vote…
Glad to hear it. Just consider this poor bastard, who was recently sentenced by said morons to 50 years for the entirely non-violent act of shoplifting a package of ribs. www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/31/willie-smith-ward-rib-theft_n_3365554.html That's "justice", Texas style. Better than the Taliban's, I suppose. But not by much.
The charge was not shoplifting and that headline is preposterous.
When will people get the difference between theft and robbery through their heads? One is a property crime. The other is a violent crime.
But sure, just go ahead and say you'll get 50 years for shoplifting. You get more clicks and you can be seen as indignant and virtuous.
EDIT: Ok, so I'm wrong about Ward actually threatening the clerk. But he was a multiple felon, and the jury apparently believed the testimony that he had a knife (which would have been illegal for a multiple felon to carry).
My comments in general still apply to many, many stories that are presented the way I originally described.
Re: Texas won't allow Tesla to sell electric cars directly
#149Funny how similar it is to the alcohol situation. Its illegal for a brewery to sell beer directly to the public in Texas, they have to go through a middleman (distributor) that doesn't really provide value. Although in the last legislative session the rules got relaxed somewhat ( especially for brewpubs ), its still pretty similar.
This isn't just a car issue, it is a "protecting local business" issue. Every state has some industries that they mandate a middle man. They either do it through licensing or just straight up saying the manufacture cannot sell direct. Shallow articles like the link don't really help the situation. We really need to start looking at removing the government from business models when there is no actual public safety asp…
Not to nitpick but that law can go so long as interior decorators aren't going around moving walls in houses.
Re: Texas won't allow Tesla to sell electric cars directly
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, your current governor is Rick Perry so your recent track record on electing non-morons is pretty bad. Austin != Texas.
I don't live in Austin, and Austin isn't as special as it thinks it is. I will repeat myself - I live in the fourth largest city in the United States, which happens to be in Texas, is not Austin, and has a homosexual mayor, who is (all things considered) a fairly conservative Democrat. Some people are just pragmatic.
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