Tesla Direct Sales Ban in NJ; A Marketing Opportunity?

Tesla's original "Roadster" model

Big news in the car industry is that the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission has banned Tesla Motors from continuing direct sales. This Forbes article gives a good description of what is going on. For those of you unfamiliar, here is a brief background on how the automobile industry works in the world. A car company is created. Be it Ford, Honda, Hyundai, or any other. The way they sell cars to the masses is through car dealerships. This happens when an individual in an area, like Boston, New York, or Los Angeles pays the car company for the privilege to sell their cars to the people in their given area. In other words, dealerships work as a middle-man. The dealership buys the car from the manufacturer, you buy the car from the dealership. It has been this way for decades. So now Tesla Motors comes along and says "no, we're not doing it that way." But this should be no surprise to anyone, Tesla as a company is all about leaving the traditional automobile industry behind, and embracing change, and the future. Tesla decided to have their own stores, where you and I can walk in, and purchase a car from the company directly. Imagine for a moment a world without awkward and annoying local car dealership commercials. *Queue sun rays beaming from the heavens and angelic music*

Tesla's most lucrative "Model S" sedan

Anyway, needless to say traditional car dealerships view this as a threat. If Tesla is very successful in doing it this way, maybe other car manufacturers will follow suit. Cutting out the middle man, and therefore eliminating lots of jobs. That's a fair point, however I don't believe that's what is driving this. New Jersey is the third state this has happened in. Now, maybe I've been watching too much "House of Cards" but I think there's some back-room dealings going on here. There are automotive retailer associations across the country that have significant funds. And with significant funds, comes significant power. Especially when those funds are used as either incentive or as a threat to elected officials. This can be done by offering campaign donations in future elections, or by threatening to fund an opponent. Other ways are public endorsements or personal favors.

They make cool hats too!

Now, since automobile retailers are presumably behind getting Tesla booted out of several states, I think its time Tesla takes the gloves off. Tesla, take note. First step is to find out whether the people on this commission are elected or appointed. If elected, then the following applies to each individual member who voted against Tesla. If they are appointed, the following need only apply to the elected official who appointed them, presumably the Governor (as is Chris Christie isn't in enough hot water already). Find direct links or evidence that shows or implies what has been going on. Whether it's bribes, back-room deals, whatever, even if it just looks bad, and use social media to get the word out. Find out if these individuals (or the person(s) who appointed them) have previously claimed to be pro-business and or pro-free market or for that matter, pro-American. If they have publicly said things like that in the past, then the fun begins. Tesla could then launch state-wide ad campaigns about how either the folks on the commission or the Governor has claimed to be pro-American, but here he is hindering the success of an innovative American car company. If they said they were pro-free market or pro-business, same spin applies. Because then the message is that either they are hypocrites or they are pawns of the automobile retailers and companies. Either one is not good for their public image. Tesla would do this with a media blitz, doing TV interviews, newspaper and magazine editorials, billboards, commercials, and social media. Obviously some of these are more cost-effective methods than others, but New Jersey is a pretty large car market, so it may be worth it. Especially if this is a trend across the country, which it looks like it could be. It's better to get political and fight back now, than let the trend continue and eventually run the risk of being run out of business. Of course that is assuming Tesla passionately believes it should have the freedom to sell its product to the public in a way it sees fit, and not be told by the government how they are allowed to do it.