Tesla wins lawsuit, now a full dealer in Natick, MA

Per: http://www.teslamotors.com/it_CH/about/press/releases/tesla-motors-wins-lawsuit-against-auto-dealers-massachusetts" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Quote: "Tesla Motors won dismissal of a lawsuit brought by the Massachusetts State Automobile Dealers Association claiming Tesla was in violation of Massachusetts law by conducting sales within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. A Superior Court judge dismissed the case based upon the auto dealers’ lack of standing and failure to state a claim.

Several months ago the judge denied a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction requested by the Massachusetts State Automobile Dealers Association and in December Tesla Motors was granted a full Class 1 Dealer License by the Town of Natick’s Board of Selectmen.

“We are delighted by the outright dismissal of this case and the validation that we are operating our business in compliance with the laws and expectations of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” said Elon Musk, Tesla co-founder and CEO. “We are confident that other states will also come to this same conclusion and look forward to following through on our commitment to introduce consumers to electric vehicle technology in an open, friendly, no-pressure environment.”


Oddly, some of the headings in the story are in Italian. Case may still go to MA supreme court, but this must be sending waves through the dealer community.

DNAinaGoodWay said:

Per: http://www.teslamotors.com/it_CH/about/press/releases/tesla-motors-wins-lawsuit-against-auto-dealers-massachusetts" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
...
Oddly, some of the headings in the story are in Italian. Case may still go to MA supreme court, but this must be sending waves through the dealer community.

Click to expand...

The URL listed is Tesla's Italian site.
That particular news is wonderful news, but is almost a year old, here is the US link http://www.teslamotors.com/about/press/releases/tesla-motors-wins-lawsuit-against-auto-dealers-massachusetts" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Right! Must need more coffee. Explains the Italian anyway.

Heard a snippet of a story on NPR just this Friday, and my first search turned this up, so thought it was current. Cant find a link to whatever NPR was talking about, will keep looking.

Easy mistake to make. The auto dealers associations are pulling out all the stops. Suing, appealing, suing again, etc.
It is going to be a long hard fight, but hopefully for consumers of all vehicles the auto dealers associations will loose.

Are they arguing that the local Tesla sales office is not
a dealership, or that the dealership is not a member
of their "Association", or that the dealership is owned
by the Tesla parent company, which is a manufacturer
of cars?

Or, did this case just object, but fail to claim an
illegal act or activity, and get thrown out?

The Alien Observer:

1. Sort of stupid, like many claim that competition is good,
but as soon as they get it, they "scream bloody murder".

2. Perhaps like the infield fly-open rule in one of those
"sports" (or political, or religious) contests. :lol:

garygid said:

Are they arguing that the local Tesla sales office is not
a dealership, or that the dealership is not a member
of their "Association", or that the dealership is owned
by the Tesla parent company, which is a manufacturer
of cars?
...

Click to expand...

I am not sure what the specifics in MA were.
The most common argument I have seen, and the one used in MN is that the laws don't allow manufacturers to sell directly to consumers. This wasn't exactly true in most states though.
The laws in many states protect car dealers from their own manufacturer. So a Ford dealer doesn't have to worry about trying to compete directly with the Ford company.

Tesla's typical response has been to point this out and to add that since they have no franchise dealerships there are no franchise dealerships that are being harmed. The law does not apply and the dealership association has no standing to sue as none of the members are franchisees of Tesla.

* this should not be construed as legal advice, simply this layman's understanding.