AP
It's been banned. New Jersey wants to force Musk to go through independent dealers.
Musk this this is a terrible policy, and in a blog post slammed auto dealers, saying they don't care about customers: "consumer protection is pretty much the furthest thing from the typical car dealer's mind."
Ben Popper at The Verge reached out to auto dealers in New Jersey for their take.
"This Musk guy, he wants all the profits for himself," said Tom Dougherty, who does sales for a BMW dealership in Princeton. "They wanted to go direct, which means no sales force. That's cutting out a lot of people. No way that's gonna fly."
Popper also talked to Jim Appleton, president of the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers, a group that represents auto dealers.
"Mr. Musk is a brilliant man, and Tesla is an innovative company. We can all respect that," said Appleton. "But he doesn't get what it takes to do business in New Jersey. With all due respect, his legal opinions are about as sound as my programming abilities."
He also said, "He needs to stop and take a breath ... If you're an Internet billionaire, maybe you think the world revolves around you, and the world springs from your laptop. Well, I got news for him. This is not a new law, Tesla is operating illegally, and as of April 1st, they will be out of business unless they decide to open a franchise."