NY-dealers' Anti-Tesla bill robs NY'rs a choice and loses NY jobs % Delay gives NY'rs time to send a message to their legislators, now %
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-06-21/new-york-lawmakers-set-aside-bill-threatening-to-cut-tesla-sales New York Lawmakers Set Aside Bill Threatening to Cut Tesla Sales By Freeman Klopott and Alan Ohnsman Jun 21 2013 New York’s Assembly set aside a bill that Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA), the maker of electric cars run by Elon Musk, had said would shut down its Empire State operations. The lower chamber adjourned its legislative session late yesterday without acting on the measure. Lawmakers in the Assembly aren’t scheduled to reconvene until January. The bill introduced in the legislature this month would have prevented car manufacturers from selling directly to consumers, as Tesla does. It also would’ve blocked registrations of new vehicles bought out of state. The Palo Alto, California-based manufacturer said a ban on selling cars directly rather than through dealers would have forced it out of New York. “Tesla’s goal has been to catalyze the market for electric vehicles and selling through intermediaries at this stage of the company will not work,” Diarmuid O’Connell, a Tesla vice president, said yesterday in a statement while the bill was pending. “It forestalls progress and defeats innovation.” Opposition to Tesla’s direct-sales business model has grown from auto dealers across the country. Since last year, lawsuits brought in New York and Massachusetts have sought to block the company’s practice, while legislation to ban it also has been pursued in Texas. The company has operations in New York City and its northern suburbs. Tesla Exception Senator Lee Zeldin, the Long Island Republican who sponsored the bill in the upper chamber, proposed a separate measure to carve out an exception for Tesla. Had both measures passed, the company wouldn’t have been affected, he said. “Our goal is not to adversely impact any business operating in the state of New York,” Zeldin said in an interview in Albany. Tesla’s sales methods threaten to undermine an industry that employs 90,000 workers statewide, trade groups such as the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association said yesterday in a letter to lawmakers. “Tesla’s investment in New York has been to rent store fronts in malls with a handful of employees,” the letter said ... [©2013 Bloomberg] http://www.autonews.com/article/20130621/OEM/130629962/tesla-musk-fight-n-y-dealer-legislation#axzz2WvTz55cU Tesla, Musk fight N.Y. dealer legislation by Amy Wilson Jun 21 2013 Tesla Motors founder Elon Musk is blasting New York auto dealers for new proposed legislation that he says would shut down the electric-car maker's retail operations in that state. "NY auto dealers are trying to ram the bill thru quickly while no one is looking," Musk tweeted earlier on Friday. A pair of bills filed in the New York House and Senate this month would cause Tesla's New York employees to lose their jobs, and its New York suppliers would lose business, the company said in a statement today. Passage of the legislation also would rob New Yorkers of marketplace choice and would be a victory for special interests, the statement said. Vote imminent A Tesla spokeswoman said a vote on the legislation could happen in the New York Assembly soon. Tesla officials say the bill has enough support in the Assembly to pass. In his tweets, Musk implored supporters to call state lawmakers. The New York bills would make it illegal for vehicle manufacturers or related entities to operate a dealership. Licenses for any existing dealership under manufacturer control would be ineligible for renewal unless the original license was issued prior to July 1, 2006. Tesla has three stores and two service centers in the state of New York, all of which opened after 2006. All would have to close if the bills passed, the Tesla spokeswoman said. Tesla's New York stores are due for license renewal this fall. Mark Schienberg, president of the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association, told Automotive News late Friday that the state's dealer groups offered Tesla a compromise in recent days: They would extend the grandfathering date in the legislation to allow continued operation for Tesla's existing stores. Tesla turned down the offer, Schienberg said. But despite the earlier grandfathering date, "we're not putting them out of business," Schienberg said. Even if the bill passes, Tesla could still operate freely in New York by setting up a franchised dealer network like other vehicle manufacturers, he said. But Musk has "just chosen that he'd rather not follow any of the rules and regulations and standards that each state has, and that's why there's a pushback right now," Schienberg said. Diarmuid O'Connell, Tesla's vice president of business development, told Automotive News later Friday that the dealers' offer to extend the grandfathering date never made it to him -- the point man for Tesla on this issue. But even if it had, O'Connell said he would have said no. "I don't care what the nature of the grandfather clause is," O'Connell said. "We do not accept that as a valid solution to this problem." Tesla maintains its New York stores already have clear rights to operate that were validated by two separate judges who dismissed dealer lawsuits against the stores. Other challenges The New York bills are the latest in a string of legislative challenges for Tesla. The company is trying to defeat a North Carolina bill that would prevent it from selling its electric vehicles through the Internet. That bill has passed the North Carolina Senate and is awaiting action in the House. In May, Tesla lost a showdown with Texas dealers when Tesla-backed bills that would have created an exemption to current state law restricting factory-owned dealerships failed to move before the end of the state's legislative session. The next regular session isn't until 2015. Earlier, Tesla won a legislative round in Minnesota. The company also won court decisions in dealer lawsuits in Massachusetts and New York. But in late April, Tesla's bid for a dealership license in Virginia was rejected. If state-level losses stack up, Musk has said he will consider seeking action on the national level, either through federal legislation or a federal lawsuit. [© Crain Communications] http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/06/21/after-losing-lawsuit-against-tesla-new-york-auto-dealers-back-legislation-to-block-direct-car-sales/ After losing lawsuit against Tesla, New York auto dealers back legislation to block direct car sales - By Josh Ong 21 Jun 2013 http://green.autoblog.com/2013/06/22/ny-dealers-try-to-make-it-illegal-to-register-a-tesla/ NY dealers try to make it illegal to register a Tesla EV That's where a new tactic by the local auto dealers could put a damper on Tesla's electric-vehicle success story. "Just heard that NY auto dealers are sneaking through a bill to shut down Tesla in NY" - Elon Musk http://www.democraticunderground.com/112747568 NY auto dealers try to bar Tesla from state with legislation "Following his big battery swap reveal in California Thursday night, Tesla CEO Elon Musk is turning his eye to New York. That's where a new tactic by the local auto dealers could put a damper on Tesla's electric-vehicle success story. "Just ... 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