The Connecticut auto dealership model makes for competitive pricing, provides consumer advocates, produces local jobs, and pumps charitable donations into communities. The consumer protections guaranteed by dealerships have proven so valuable that there are state laws dictating that car manufacturers must sell to consumers through auto dealers.
Tesla, however, wants to sell its cars directly to consumers, bypassing the time-tested dealership model. In recent legislative sessions, Tesla has lobbied to repeal regulations in Connecticut that mandate the dealership approach. So far it has been unsuccessful, but now Tesla is trying to find a way to bend the rules.
In East Hartford, the planning and zoning commission recently approved Tesla’s plans for a “service facility” at a former car dealership. This initiated the Hoffman Auto Group to file a lawsuit in Hartford Superior Court that asserts the Tesla application “obscures the applicant’s actual intent” to sell new and used cars.
As The Day’s editorial board wrote, “Come on, Tesla, can’t you just play by the rules we have here in Connecticut?” The editorial also declares that Tesla needs to abide by the rules “until and unless the legislature changes the law.”
In other words, Tesla must stay in its lane or get off the road.