Next Level BS #15: The Government Conspiracy to Kill Tesla Motors Innovation

I mentioned this in a paper I wrote about a week ago when I first heard of the governments role in this circumstance.

Here is the paper :

I need to call to attention a particular set of circumstances I've recently witnessed in regards to the suppression of technologies by the US Legislators and the criminalization of medicinal plants. This type of behavior that our government has been displaying for decades is irrational and childish. The reason this situation has been allowed to continuously flourish, is because of the government's ability to coax its citizens into a mass hallucination using disinformation methods and cultural diversions such as consumer fetishism, cultural trends, religion, TV, and alcohol. This is happening simultaneously along with the illegalization of naturally occurring psychedelic compounds, the suppression of viable cancer treatments in order to maintain profit margins, the killing and taking of land overseas to sustain corporate investments, and the ridiculing or murdering of members of a population who's beliefs do not coincide with its own. What intrigues me the most is this excerpt :

Excerpt

"Across the country, the car dealers’ lobby is running scared of Tesla Motors. Tesla makes electric cars that Consumer Reports has called the best performing car — of any kind — it has ever tested. For lots of good reasons, Tesla wants to open its own showrooms and service centers and sell cars directly to consumers, bypassing traditional franchised dealer networks.

This is but one out of hundreds and thousands of things the USA's political leaders, bank owners, and members of their culturally sanctioned institutions are doing. This is all being done behind closed doors ultimately. How? Because some of us may know that the others are sitting back and watching this bull# culture consume the entire planet until we're just the next over-confident extinct species (albeit some are trying to help), and some people are still watching reality TV, drinking beers, and wondering what some #-head celebrity is doing.

It's no such thing as picking sides. It such thing as right and wrong.

a reply to: Ridhya

My son is a Pokemon huge fan and lol when I told him what you wrote.

He's caught a couple of shineys today but if it was upto the government and industry they wouldn't be allowed to evolve.

The NADA is one of the most powerful lobbies in the U.S. they will have their way in this corrupt system UNLESS the people demand Teslas or Elan Musk coughs up his ethics and gives the big dealers franchises in the states they want them in.

The reality is that at $70K a copy the mass appeal for a Tesla won't happen so, guess what's left?

Hopefully Mr. Musk will tell the NADA to get FORKED and will do one more innovative thing...

Make the cars available online with an initial subsidy on the shipping which could be paid for out of the profits collected after the sale of enough units. Yes this is risky but, innovation almost always demands risks, especially when you're going up against the good olde asshole network.

This could work, you could became the iTunes of the best cars on the planet. iTunes worked out pretty well for Apple, I'd think iCars would work out pretty well for Tesla Motors. The cars are stunning and that's all you need.

Elan, you can afford the hit, the cars can be drop shipped (in lots of ten or more) for around $750.00 a unit to anywhere in the U.S. Think about that, it's a 1.25% hit to the margin that will right itself as sales grow.

STICK IT TO THE NADA! Deliver the cars!

Yeah...

Springer...

this is nothing new. look in to the Tucker 48 built by Preston Tucker. en.wikipedia.org...
it was a car so far a head of it's time that Tucker was punished for it.

Can't have a true electric car that's UnAmerican!! I gotta wonder how deeply is Big Oil involved in this along with the car dealers.I'm not surprised by the reaction to Tesla motors it's the usual reaction that anything even remotely related to Nikola Tesla.They want all of his work suppressed and forgotten.I'm sure DHS will start considering anyone who works with Tesla's tech as "domestic terrorists."

I think it's disgusting that states are able to ban Tesla... Too many corrupt politicians.

ps- that graphic made me laugh out loud: Quality Bullsh** $2 per bag

a reply to: theNLBS

Great job Joe!

In the UK, there are two main groups of people, retailing new cars to the consumer. You have your company dealerships, Ford, Toyota, Audi and so on, all the big car manufacturers sell cars direct to market through franchised dealership/garage locations. And you also have independent retailers, who buy stock from most or all of the big companies, and sell them on to the consumer.

Aside from that, there are also second hand car lots of course, and there is always the classified advertisements at the back of the local paper, in Auto Trader catalogues, and on the internet as well.

But the main source of brand new cars hitting the streets, is motor company franchised sales locations. There are several between the borough I live in, and the next one over. The main road linking my borough with the next one over, has a BMW dealership, a Ford dealership, a Toyota dealership, and I think there is even a dealership which exclusively markets the crappy modern Mini in all its false advertising glory (new Minis are HUGE! Seriously, park one next to an old Mini if you get the chance, and boggle at the size of the new one!).

Around these parts, one would EXPECT to buy a car direct from a motor company franchised dealership, if one was buying brand spanking new that is. So Tesla would fit right in around here, and no mistake.

I think the way that the company is being treated has nothing to do with the dealers themselves, or the association of the same. I think it is more the case that the NADA, are being used by larger, more powerful concerns, to lever Mr Musk out of the automobile game, if they possibly can.

Big oil. Nuff said.

The Big Oil Companies are certainly not willing to give up their throne just yet. It's sickening to know we have such evil scum driving the direction of our World.
It would maybe help if Tesla could bring onboard other huge investors who want to break free from the stranglehold of evil across many countries.

Fantastic video. I've been following Tesla for some time now. The battery plant in Nevada looks promising for further innovation. It's typical of our "free market" to see things like this. Reminds me of an older video called "who killed the electric car". It was the auto parts and oil companies using legislation forcing a ban on pumping stations. And since the electric car doesn't have a combustable engine than you won't need all those replacement parts. It would kill the industry, hence the Prius and the like.

Okay Joe, good video.... genuine conspiracy so to speak, practical non speculative topic, viable issue for public action, useful information...

Good show

It's simple enough that the NADA are just looking out for their members interests - if they don't get a slice of the money pie, then no one gets to eat pie. If Tesla cars were to take off, their members would be out of a job.

a reply to: theNLBS

This has more to do with Tesla selling their cars directly then it has to do with the government trying to ban the from being sold. All other car manufacturers have to sell their cars through franchised dealerships, aka middle man, which in turn inflates prices. Tesla skips the middle man and in turn gets to offer a deep discount on their cars which gives them an unfair advantage in the market place.
The law clearly states that car manufactures cannot sell directly to the public, so why should Tesla be able avoid this law?


"Musk wants to sell cars directly and has been fighting this legislative battle on a state-by-state basis. Specific language varies from one state to another, but more than half the 50 states have similar franchise laws to Michigan that prohibit manufacturers from competing with their franchised dealers.

Texas and Arizona have so far prevented Tesla from selling inside their borders, Tesla has won court cases and opened stores in Massachusetts, Minnesota and New York. It only has galleries in Texas, Arizona, New Jersey and Maryland."

Thing is, you don't have to go to the factory or the two places mentioned on the coasts. There are four states and a Canadian province in easy driving distance from Michigan with active Tesla dealers. (From what I've seen while driving, they're quite popular around Chicago and the North Shore area - apparently no problems with sales here in Illinois. Probably not too different in New York, Indiana, and Ohio, as well as Ontario.) If for some reason they try stopping a purchase at a U.S. based company owned dealership just outside the state, then it'd be in dispute with federal Interstate commerce. (Not a lawyer, but as far as I know, it would make sense that it could then be contested and brought to a federal court.)

It's B.S. but Michigan isn't really going to stop Tesla sales to the people living there that can afford them. They're just going to make it much more inconvenient. Also keep in mind that in theory Tesla could still operate service centers in those states not allowing factory sales (so somebody buying the car out of state doesn't have to go through too many hoops), obviously they just can't sell the cars there.

Oddly enough, you'll probably see Tesla staying pretty solid in the states that have a lot of importers and non-dealership association used car sales outlets. The markets in those states are more competitive and the dealership association has more difficulty buying regulation when there are too many others that would oppose it.

dp

a reply to: tide88

Cutting out the middle man increases prices, you get far greater distribution by including sales agents. It takes out competition for the consumer when your are forced to buy direct from manufacturer. After the honeymoon is over, prices will increase, or they will go out to a wider distribution network.

originally posted by: tide88
All other car manufacturers have to sell their cars through franchised dealerships, aka middle man, which in turn inflates prices.

And, in our research, nearly all other car manufacturers would like to dismantle the dealership franchise monopoly. The DOJ material we were able to locate (not much out there, after dozens of investigations) paints auto dealers as, collectively, the most corrupt consumer-facing retail entities. Even dealerships considered "good" with high customer service rankings regularly engage in soft-scams that cost consumers lots of money… such as adding a point to the financing, and keeping that 1% for themselves.

Tesla skips the middle man and in turn gets to offer a deep discount on their cars which gives them an unfair advantage in the market place.
The law clearly states that car manufactures cannot sell directly to the public, so why should Tesla be able avoid this law?

Elon Musk has been often quoted that he cannot risk trusting his new brand, that requires a great deal of consumer education prior to purchase, to a network of businesses that has such poor consumer trust/confidence.

The larger picture is… why just cars/trucks?

There exists several massive networks of franchised real estate agencies, each with territory exclusivity. Yet, consumers are free to buy directly from the seller or builder.


From what I knew previously, and our research on this episode, I believe Musk's fight is two-fold…
1) Specialty auto-manufacturors should be able to sell direct
2) Auto dealers are collectively a group he cannot trust, nor should consumers

originally posted by: zazzafrazz
Cutting out the middle man increases prices,

How is that?

GM (for example) sells their vehicles to dealers at wholesale prices. Dealers mark that up for sale at retail. Thanks to Auto Dealer Associations, there's lots of collusion in price-fixing for which the FTC turns a blind eye.

If consumers could buy direct at the wholesale price, the price of a car would be less.

a reply to: Vandettas

Yes it's wrong but I wonder how many Americans could afford $70,000 + on a car , also I wonder if many members here work for dealers ?

So you have the NRA and NADA with to much power and influence over there!

a reply to: SkepticOverlord

well Bill it's this princi,ple;

If I wanted to say buy an airline ticket when it was all the rage to go direct online to the airline, initially it was a pricing marketing STRATEGY to get people there at red ticket online rates and aware of the product.
Once consumers were on your CRM or loyalty program or a repeat customer, prices got hiked back up high than before OBE (online booking Engine, acronym not Out of Body Experience ) were introduced in that industry. You travel im sure you love the fake "fuel surcharges" and online booking fees and credit card fees we get hit with now)
Now ALL "low cost carriers" like Virgin, Air Asia and so on have paid millions to divert their "online" red ticket sales items to THE GREATER DISTRIBUTION NETWORK.

WHY?*** Because consumers will ALWAYS want to shop around and compare product**** You think that GM Toyota etc wont go product competitive in time? They do or die....Did Samsung take on the apple product? Yes the market moves with product development, whether patented or not.

The consumer is given choice through a distributor and that creates a competitive market place.

As a consumer I can go into a dealership and shop for any car (their mark up from wholesale is not gigantic by any means) compared to "rack rate" (hotels did this to and now have all moved to the principle of larger distribution channels not just their own site). It provides a larger consumer base on your product and force you to keep your prices competitive.





eta: the competition will markedly drop their rates to price Tesla out and keep competition live until they can come up with competitive product, It happens EvERY time, regardless of industry.

Now the concept of wholesale versus retail you bring up ties into distribution levels. i have a broken arm and need to rest it before tackling that more.

I personally don't think it is a good business model for them as a start up. I'll ask you, why do companies outsource?

originally posted by: zazzafrazz
a reply to: SkepticOverlord

well Bill it's this princi,ple;

If I wanted to say buy an airline ticket when it was all the rage to go direct online to the airline, initially it was a pricing marketing STRATEGY to get people there at red ticket online rates and aware of the product.
Once consumers were on your CRM or loyalty program or a repeat customer, prices got hiked back up high than before OBE (online booking Engine, acronym not Out of Body Experience

) were introduced in that industry. You travel im sure you love the fake "fuel surcharges" and online booking fees and credit card fees we get hit with now)
Now ALL "low cost carriers" like Virgin, Air Asia and so on have paid millions to divert their "online" red ticket sales items to THE GREATER DISTRIBUTION NETWORK.

WHY?*** Because consumers will ALWAYS want to shop around and compare product**** You think that GM Toyota etc wont go product competitive in time? They do or die....Did Samsung take on the apple product? Yes the market moves with product development, whether patented or not.

The consumer is given choice through a distributor and that creates a competitive market place.

That's not true, no OTA's (online travel agencies) profit from airline sales. In fact, most take a loss but the end does justify the means. OTA's don't even charge a booking fee unless it's just air only and that's because selling air only is operating at a loss. OTA's margins come from hotel sales and the packaging of air+hotel+car and travel extras. The profit is in the hotel sales where a typical hotel sale is roughly 20+% profit whereas a package is upwards and over 40%.

Looking at just air, some and I mean a few airlines pay a $5 to $15 commission and if they don't charge a booking fee assuming your call cost the company on average $5-$7 dollars they are already at $0.00- (-)2 dollars. Every time you call costs another 5-7. Which is why air only is a loss but if it wasn't offered than you wouldn't come to the site.

As for gas tax (Q tax) you can look at your fair basis code. If there is a gas tax its in there which is from the airlines not an OTA.