Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'Stores'.
Found 10 results
-
The latest way Tesla has been trying to get around states that ban direct sales (Michigan for example) is to apply for a dealer license. But this plan appears to not be working. Automotive News reports that North Carolina's Division of Motor Vehicles has rejected Telsa's application to attain a second dealership license and said the automaker must go through a third-party dealership group. The ruling states that Tesla didn't meet the specific requirements to become exempt from a state law prohibiting manufacturers from owning dealers. Tesla already has one store in North Carolina in Releigh and was hoping open a new store at their service center in Matthews (suburb of Charlotte). The DMV order signed by signed by Administrative Hearing Officer Larry Greene, said there are “at least three independent dealers” in the market that would be able to own and operate a Tesla dealership “in a manner consistent with the public interest.” The news gets slightly worse for Tesla. Earlier this month, The Detroit News got their hands on documents between the state of Michigan and Tesla ranging from 2014 to early 2016 detailing the saga of Tesla trying to sell vehicles in the state. The most recent development saw the Secretary of State’s office requesting Tesla to provide proof that it is a franchised dealer. If not, the state will not rule on the applications. Secretary of State spokesman Fred Woodhams in an email said this it’s “an explicit requirement in state law.” Tesla doesn't see it that way. “We don’t harm any franchised dealers by selling directly; we have no relationships with any franchised dealers we would be unfairly competing against. Unlike if General Motors opened up their own store-owned dealership across the street from a franchised dealer that they gave rights to,” said Todd Maron, Tesla's general counsel. We highly recommend checking out The Detroit News piece to get the full picture of this mess. It is becoming very clear the only way for this to be settled once and for all is for it to go to the courts. Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required), The Detroit News View full article
-
The latest way Tesla has been trying to get around states that ban direct sales (Michigan for example) is to apply for a dealer license. But this plan appears to not be working. Automotive News reports that North Carolina's Division of Motor Vehicles has rejected Telsa's application to attain a second dealership license and said the automaker must go through a third-party dealership group. The ruling states that Tesla didn't meet the specific requirements to become exempt from a state law prohibiting manufacturers from owning dealers. Tesla already has one store in North Carolina in Releigh and was hoping open a new store at their service center in Matthews (suburb of Charlotte). The DMV order signed by signed by Administrative Hearing Officer Larry Greene, said there are “at least three independent dealers” in the market that would be able to own and operate a Tesla dealership “in a manner consistent with the public interest.” The news gets slightly worse for Tesla. Earlier this month, The Detroit News got their hands on documents between the state of Michigan and Tesla ranging from 2014 to early 2016 detailing the saga of Tesla trying to sell vehicles in the state. The most recent development saw the Secretary of State’s office requesting Tesla to provide proof that it is a franchised dealer. If not, the state will not rule on the applications. Secretary of State spokesman Fred Woodhams in an email said this it’s “an explicit requirement in state law.” Tesla doesn't see it that way. “We don’t harm any franchised dealers by selling directly; we have no relationships with any franchised dealers we would be unfairly competing against. Unlike if General Motors opened up their own store-owned dealership across the street from a franchised dealer that they gave rights to,” said Todd Maron, Tesla's general counsel. We highly recommend checking out The Detroit News piece to get the full picture of this mess. It is becoming very clear the only way for this to be settled once and for all is for it to go to the courts. Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required), The Detroit News -
While Tesla is fighting for the right to sell vehicles direct to consumers in many states, the automaker will also be selling the Model S in new and temporary locations. Fortune reports that Tesla will be opening mobile container stores in various locations this summer with the first location being Santa Barbara, CA during the Memorial Day holiday. Why is Tesla doing this? They hope to lure in wealthy customers to a vehicle during their summer vacation. The mobile stores themselves are situated in two shipping containers and takes a few hours to setup. Once setup, the mobile stores look like the standard stores with a neutral gray and bright red paint scheme, along with a Model S. The next stop for Tesla's pop-up store is in the Hamptons. After that, Tesla is keeping quiet on that. Source: Fortune View full article
-
While Tesla is fighting for the right to sell vehicles direct to consumers in many states, the automaker will also be selling the Model S in new and temporary locations. Fortune reports that Tesla will be opening mobile container stores in various locations this summer with the first location being Santa Barbara, CA during the Memorial Day holiday. Why is Tesla doing this? They hope to lure in wealthy customers to a vehicle during their summer vacation. The mobile stores themselves are situated in two shipping containers and takes a few hours to setup. Once setup, the mobile stores look like the standard stores with a neutral gray and bright red paint scheme, along with a Model S. The next stop for Tesla's pop-up store is in the Hamptons. After that, Tesla is keeping quiet on that. Source: Fortune -
Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen has a problem with the brand's dealers, specifically how many there are. According to data gathered by Autodata Corp and The Detroit News, Cadillac currently has 928 dealers in the U.S. A large number when compared to competitors in the luxury class such as Audi (281 dealers) and Mercedes-Benz (364). Factor in total sales for year and Cadillac finishes last with each dealer selling an average of 184 vehicles (170,750 vehicles sold for the year). This pales in comparison with the likes of Audi (648 vehicles sold last year per dealer) and Mercedes-Benz (978 vehicles sold last year per dealer). "With our very large dealer network … we so fragment the available volume, that many of our stores are unable to reach critical mass in terms of volume and their profitability to afford the investment in the kind of ... facilities that is the custom and practice for the sector," said de Nysschen. So what does de Nysschen plan to do about this? Well he isn't saying anything about cutting dealers at the moment. Instead, he is proposing smaller 'boutique' stores which will be separate facilities to have between 2 to 5 vehicles along with a virtual showroom with TV screens and 3-D images. The hope is that this will reduce a phenomenon de Nysschen calls "selling Cadillac out the back door of the Chevrolet store." "We want to create a concept that's built around the notion of a small boutique shop. The idea is you don't have to be a large, Taj Mahal mausoleum brand store to be classy and sophisticated and premium. You can do a small two-car showroom with an investment amount that is kind of appropriate to the size of the sales opportunity in their local market, and we harness technology to supplement then what we can offer," said de Nysschen. de Nysschen will be presenting this plan to dealers at the 2015 National Automobile Dealers Association conference in San Francisco this weekend. IHS Automotive analyst Tom Libby tells The Detroit News that de Nysschen's plan makes some sense as it allows Cadillac to build and grow a brand by separation. "It makes sense. It's a challenge to convince the retailer to invest a lot of money. It sounds like a compromise," Libby said of the idea. Source: The Detroit News -
Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen has a problem with the brand's dealers, specifically how many there are. According to data gathered by Autodata Corp and The Detroit News, Cadillac currently has 928 dealers in the U.S. A large number when compared to competitors in the luxury class such as Audi (281 dealers) and Mercedes-Benz (364). Factor in total sales for year and Cadillac finishes last with each dealer selling an average of 184 vehicles (170,750 vehicles sold for the year). This pales in comparison with the likes of Audi (648 vehicles sold last year per dealer) and Mercedes-Benz (978 vehicles sold last year per dealer). "With our very large dealer network … we so fragment the available volume, that many of our stores are unable to reach critical mass in terms of volume and their profitability to afford the investment in the kind of ... facilities that is the custom and practice for the sector," said de Nysschen. So what does de Nysschen plan to do about this? Well he isn't saying anything about cutting dealers at the moment. Instead, he is proposing smaller 'boutique' stores which will be separate facilities to have between 2 to 5 vehicles along with a virtual showroom with TV screens and 3-D images. The hope is that this will reduce a phenomenon de Nysschen calls "selling Cadillac out the back door of the Chevrolet store." "We want to create a concept that's built around the notion of a small boutique shop. The idea is you don't have to be a large, Taj Mahal mausoleum brand store to be classy and sophisticated and premium. You can do a small two-car showroom with an investment amount that is kind of appropriate to the size of the sales opportunity in their local market, and we harness technology to supplement then what we can offer," said de Nysschen. de Nysschen will be presenting this plan to dealers at the 2015 National Automobile Dealers Association conference in San Francisco this weekend. IHS Automotive analyst Tom Libby tells The Detroit News that de Nysschen's plan makes some sense as it allows Cadillac to build and grow a brand by separation. "It makes sense. It's a challenge to convince the retailer to invest a lot of money. It sounds like a compromise," Libby said of the idea. Source: The Detroit News View full article
-
Three FTC Officials Call For End To The Anti-Tesla Store Laws
William Maley posted an article in Tesla
In a surprising move today, three top officials from the Federal Trade Commission have come out against the laws that ban automakers like Tesla from selling their vehicles directly to consumers. Andrew Gavil, director of the FTC's Office of Policy Planning; Deborah Feinstein, director of the Bureau of Competition; and Martin Gaynor, director of the Bureau of Economics wrote in a blog piece on the FTC site that states the dealer franchise laws are a 'bad idea' since it doesn't allow consumers to shop in new ways. "For decades, local laws in many states have required consumers to purchase their cars solely from local, independent auto dealers," the three said in the post. "Removing these regulatory impediments may be essential to allow consumers access to new ways of shopping that have become available in many other industries." Dealers argue the franchise model works because they compete on price and offer long-term service. However, direct sales offer a threat and could cause other manufacturers to go down the same road. Dealers have turned to lobbyists to sue Tesla in court and urge state representatives to tighten dealer laws. This has only angered the public and legislators from both parties. "How manufacturers choose to supply their products and services to consumers is just as much a function of competition as what they sell--and competition ultimately provides the best protections for consumers and the best chances for new businesses to develop and succeed," the three stated in the piece. "Our point has not been that new methods of sale are necessarily superior to the traditional methods--just that the determination should be made through the competitive process." Now it should be noted that the posting is of the authors and not the FTC. Source: Reuters, FTC William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at [email protected] or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster. -
In a surprising move today, three top officials from the Federal Trade Commission have come out against the laws that ban automakers like Tesla from selling their vehicles directly to consumers. Andrew Gavil, director of the FTC's Office of Policy Planning; Deborah Feinstein, director of the Bureau of Competition; and Martin Gaynor, director of the Bureau of Economics wrote in a blog piece on the FTC site that states the dealer franchise laws are a 'bad idea' since it doesn't allow consumers to shop in new ways. "For decades, local laws in many states have required consumers to purchase their cars solely from local, independent auto dealers," the three said in the post. "Removing these regulatory impediments may be essential to allow consumers access to new ways of shopping that have become available in many other industries." Dealers argue the franchise model works because they compete on price and offer long-term service. However, direct sales offer a threat and could cause other manufacturers to go down the same road. Dealers have turned to lobbyists to sue Tesla in court and urge state representatives to tighten dealer laws. This has only angered the public and legislators from both parties. "How manufacturers choose to supply their products and services to consumers is just as much a function of competition as what they sell--and competition ultimately provides the best protections for consumers and the best chances for new businesses to develop and succeed," the three stated in the piece. "Our point has not been that new methods of sale are necessarily superior to the traditional methods--just that the determination should be made through the competitive process." Now it should be noted that the posting is of the authors and not the FTC. Source: Reuters, FTC William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at [email protected] or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster. View full article
-
Tesla Gets Sued By Dealer Associations In Two States
William Maley posted an article in Automotive Industry
William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 22, 2012 Earlier this month, we reported that four states; Illinois, Massachusetts, New York and Oregon were complaining about Tesla and their stores. "Tesla's factory-owned stores present unfair competition for rival dealerships, are inconvenient for consumers needing repairs and, if left unchallenged, ultimately threaten the franchise system," said a report in Automotive News. Tesla didn't see a problem with their stores. "We do what we're capable of doing, and we do whatever they let us do. It's unique for each location. If we can't be a dealer in a mall, we won't do reservations on-site. We tell people where to go on our Web site to make a reservation. We just want to locate in high-traffic locations and interact with people when they are specifically not thinking of buying a car. We have no motivation to change the laws or how the car industry does its business," said George Blankenship, Tesla's vice president of sales. Now, two states have filed suits against Tesla. According to Automotive News, New York and Massachusetts' dealer associations have filled lawsuits against Tesla. Massachusetts dealer association is asking the court to shut down Tesla's store in Boston. New York's dealer assocation has filled suit against Tesla and the New York Department of Motor Vehicles, stating that the two "violated state franchise law by seeking, in Tesla's case, and granting, in the department's case, a dealership license for a Tesla store in Westchester, N.Y." "The big question for a lot of the states is do they have the kind of statute that addresses the issue of who's allowed to be licensed to sell cars for their particular state.Tesla is a good poster child because they're setting up all over the place," said Mark Schienberg, president of the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association. Tesla still stands behind their defense of saying their stores are just a place to look at the vehicle. If you want to purchase a Tesla, you can do that on their website. "They claim they're operating under the guise of a nonsales showroom, and we call that out as an outright scam," said Robert O'Koniewski, executive vice president of the Massachusetts dealer association. Earlier this afternoon, Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted a piece on the Tesla Motors blog defending their retail strategy. "Automotive franchise laws were put in place decades ago to prevent a manufacturer from unfairly opening stores in direct competition with an existing franchise dealer that had already invested time, money and effort to open and promote their business. That would, of course, be wrong, but Tesla does not have this issue. We have granted no franchises anywhere in the world that will be harmed by us opening stores. Regrettably, two lawsuits have nonetheless been filed against Tesla that we believe are starkly contrary to the spirit and the letter of the law. This is supported by the nature of the plaintiffs, where one is a Fisker dealer and the other is an auto group that has repeatedly demanded that it be granted a Tesla franchise. They will have considerable difficulty explaining to the court why Tesla opening a store in Boston is somehow contrary to the best interests of fair commerce or the public. It is further worth noting that these franchise laws do not even exist in the rest of the world, where almost three quarters of premium sedan sales take place." Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required), Tesla Motors Blog William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at [email protected] or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster. -
William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 22, 2012 Earlier this month, we reported that four states; Illinois, Massachusetts, New York and Oregon were complaining about Tesla and their stores. "Tesla's factory-owned stores present unfair competition for rival dealerships, are inconvenient for consumers needing repairs and, if left unchallenged, ultimately threaten the franchise system," said a report in Automotive News. Tesla didn't see a problem with their stores. "We do what we're capable of doing, and we do whatever they let us do. It's unique for each location. If we can't be a dealer in a mall, we won't do reservations on-site. We tell people where to go on our Web site to make a reservation. We just want to locate in high-traffic locations and interact with people when they are specifically not thinking of buying a car. We have no motivation to change the laws or how the car industry does its business," said George Blankenship, Tesla's vice president of sales. Now, two states have filed suits against Tesla. According to Automotive News, New York and Massachusetts' dealer associations have filled lawsuits against Tesla. Massachusetts dealer association is asking the court to shut down Tesla's store in Boston. New York's dealer assocation has filled suit against Tesla and the New York Department of Motor Vehicles, stating that the two "violated state franchise law by seeking, in Tesla's case, and granting, in the department's case, a dealership license for a Tesla store in Westchester, N.Y." "The big question for a lot of the states is do they have the kind of statute that addresses the issue of who's allowed to be licensed to sell cars for their particular state.Tesla is a good poster child because they're setting up all over the place," said Mark Schienberg, president of the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association. Tesla still stands behind their defense of saying their stores are just a place to look at the vehicle. If you want to purchase a Tesla, you can do that on their website. "They claim they're operating under the guise of a nonsales showroom, and we call that out as an outright scam," said Robert O'Koniewski, executive vice president of the Massachusetts dealer association. Earlier this afternoon, Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted a piece on the Tesla Motors blog defending their retail strategy. "Automotive franchise laws were put in place decades ago to prevent a manufacturer from unfairly opening stores in direct competition with an existing franchise dealer that had already invested time, money and effort to open and promote their business. That would, of course, be wrong, but Tesla does not have this issue. We have granted no franchises anywhere in the world that will be harmed by us opening stores. Regrettably, two lawsuits have nonetheless been filed against Tesla that we believe are starkly contrary to the spirit and the letter of the law. This is supported by the nature of the plaintiffs, where one is a Fisker dealer and the other is an auto group that has repeatedly demanded that it be granted a Tesla franchise. They will have considerable difficulty explaining to the court why Tesla opening a store in Boston is somehow contrary to the best interests of fair commerce or the public. It is further worth noting that these franchise laws do not even exist in the rest of the world, where almost three quarters of premium sedan sales take place." Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required), Tesla Motors Blog William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at [email protected] or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster. View full article
