dealers
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Coffins made by monks don't often figure into either legal decisions or the electric car industry, but they do at the moment. Tesla Motors is weighing whether to sue in Federal court over various state franchise laws that prohibit it from selling Model S and Model X electric cars online to buyers. Its lawyers were inspired by a 2013 legal decision that ruled a monastery could sell its coffins without requiring a funeral-director's license. DON'T MISS: Where Can Tesla Legally Sell Cars Directly To You? State-By-State Map The news comes via a feature story in The Wall Street Journal, in which...
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VA auto dealers sue Tesla, DMV over hearing to 'hide' proposed store
The state-by-state battles between electric-car maker Tesla Motors and lobbyists for state auto-dealer interests often take unusual twists and turns. But the situation in the state of Virginia may be among the odder episodes in Tesla's eight years of selling cars online directly to buyers. In the...
John Voelcker -
Small-town Indiana Chevy dealer is big on electric cars
It's often said that franchised auto dealers are one of the bigger impediments to sales of plug-in electric cars. Vehicles with plugs require more explanation, the financial calculations are often more complicated, and home and public charging stations add a further layer of complication...
Green Car Reports -
Tesla sales bill in Utah sputters to halt after multiple changes (updated)
A Tesla sales bill in Utah stalled after the carmaker itself turned against it.
Stephen Edelstein -
Tesla Vs Michigan (UPDATED): Dealership Application, Conservative Coalition, Ballot Push
Electric-car maker Tesla Motors is the fourth-largest U.S. car maker, but its home in California's Silicon Valley is far from the heartland Detroit base of GM, Ford, and Fiat Chrysler. In Michigan, Tesla is banned by law from selling cars directly to buyers, and from opening Tesla Store retail...
John Voelcker -
CA Bill Gives Tax-Free Delivery To Out-Of-State Tesla Buyers
Well, this might upset a few martini glasses at National Automobile Dealers Association social events. A bill passed by the California State Senate two days ago allows out-of-state car buyers to take delivery of their electric cars in California without paying any sales tax. The legislation was...
John Voelcker -
In almost every state, you can't buy a car online from its maker, owing to language in franchise laws that forbids direct sales, written at the behest of auto-dealer lobbyists. Whether or not that's a good thing, a majority of car buyers now research new cars online well before they ever set foot in a dealership. And carmakers have come to recognize that consumers like the convenience of online shopping and communicating. DON'T MISS: Buy An Electric Car Online? In Japan, BMW i3 Is Sold On Amazon In November 2013, that led GM to create a program for new-car shopping called "Shop-Click-Drive."...
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Tesla To Testify At FTC Hearing On Auto-Dealer Franchise Laws
The Federal Trade Commissions will hold a panel discussion on auto-dealer franchise laws January 19.
Stephen Edelstein -
Is Chevy Actually Testing New Marketing For The 2016 Volt?
The new 2016 Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid keeps and expands on all the good points of the first-generation Volt, while fixing a number of the old car's quirks. As we wrote in September, "The new Volt's a great car, and brings practical electric drive to U.S. drivers without a shred of range...
John Voelcker -
How Bad Was Nissan Dealer When Buyer Wanted A Leaf Electric Car? THAT Bad
Five years after the first modern mass-market electric car launched, stories of recalcitrant car dealers continue to surface from buyers. Walk into a dealership, explain that you want to buy an electric car ... and then endure a litany of reasons why you don't. But a meticulously documented...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Continues To Try To Sell Electric Cars In Michigan; State Ignores It
Tesla wants to crack Michigan's direct-sales ban.
Stephen Edelstein -
Most Car Dealers Are Lousy At Selling Electric Cars: Here's Why
Dealers still aren't enthusiastic about selling electric cars, a new report finds.
Stephen Edelstein -
Count on the car-dealer lobbyists of America to keep fighting the good fight on behalf of the state franchise laws that protect their members' businesses by making it illegal for you to buy a car directly from a carmaker. And, for that matter, to throw in comments about the supposed consumer disadvantages of electric-car maker Tesla Motors and its direct-sales model while they're at it. Tesla, of course, has proven a surprising thorn in the side of those auto-dealer business interests with its insistence on selling cars over the Internet directly to buyers--and then delivering those cars to...
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Tesla Doubles Down On Fight For Direct Sales In Michigan, Detroit Three's Home Turf
Tesla plans to lobby for direct sales in Michigan.
Stephen Edelstein -
High-Volume Chevy Volt Dealer: How To Sell Successfully, Lessons Learned
Plug-in electric vehicle pioneers perennially proclaim that the electric driving experience is as pleasant as the dealership experience isn't. (Tesla stores excepted, of course.) Recently the organizers of the EV2015VE electric vehicle conference in Canada invited Quebec-based Bourgeois Chevrolet...
Matthew Klippenstein -
Not All Car Dealers Hate Tesla's Online Sales; Large Chains Back It, Bank Says
Some car dealers would like to see franchise laws relaxed, a Morgan Stanley report finds.
Stephen Edelstein -
Canadian Electric-Car Dealership Awards Honor Sales Success Stories
With car dealers often viewed as an impediment to successful sales of plug-in electric cars, recognizing dealerships that embrace and promote plug-in cars is crucial to changing hearts and minds. Earlier this week, the winners of Canada's second-annual Electric Vehicle Dealership Awards were...
Matthew Klippenstein -
Tesla Brings Electric-Car Popup Stores To Summer Resorts: Santa Barbara, Hamptons
So-called popup stores are an increasingly common way for retail brands to get media attention and attract new customers, without the expense of building and staffing a full-time location. Now California carmaker Tesla Motors is extending the concept to bring its luxury Model S electric car to...
John Voelcker -
Electric cars are still a rarity in most of North America, and for that matter most of the world. But California, which has led automotive trends pretty much since the Second War, is different. Electric cars are increasingly popular there, and they're becoming positively commonplace in Silicon Valley, south of San Francisco. DON'T MISS: California, Washington Lead All Other States In Electric-Car Ownership Rates Which is why Stevens Creek BMW in Santa Clara will open the brand's first full-service standalone BMW i facility, devoted exclusively to BMW's plug-in vehicles, this weekend...
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FTC Calls Michigan's Tesla Ban 'Protectionism' For Dealers
Tesla Motors has had varied success in its efforts to fight state laws making its direct online-sales model illegal. The electric-car maker lost a round in Michigan last fall, but now a government agency has weighed in on Michigan's revision to its franchise law. Let's just say that the U.S...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Owners Take Protest To Michigan; Dealer-Backed State Ban Targeted
Tesla owners will protest Michigan franchise laws with a rally this weekend.
Stephen Edelstein -
First Eight CA Dealers Announced For 2016 Toyota Mirai Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Car
With the 2016 Toyota Mirai set to go on sale this October, Toyota has now announced the first eight dealers that will be selling its first production hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle. Four are in Northern California, four in the southern part of the state. Production of the Mirai will be limited to about...
John Voelcker -
More Informed Car Buyers Don't Need Salesmen, But 'Facilitators'
Car buyers today have far more information than they did just 15 years ago, and they're using it. Google says that three-quarters of all auto shoppers now do hours of research before they ever visit a dealer. They can find some information on dealer invoice prices--though not necessarily all the...
John Voelcker -
Where Can Tesla Legally Sell Cars Directly To You? State-By-State Map: LATEST UPDATE
Every month, and often more frequently, a new story appears about the state-by-state battle between Tesla Motors and auto-dealer lobbyists. In some states, Tesla is permitted to sell its electric cars online, deliver them to customers, and open as many Tesla Store showrooms as it wants. In others...
John Voelcker