Another week, another victory for Tesla in their ongoing war with car dealerships. This time it's in North Carolina, whose legislature has backed off on a bill that would have blocked Tesla sales in that state.
That bill, backed by the N.C. Automobile Dealers Association, would have made the direct-to-customer sales model used by Tesla illegal in North Carolina. Though it didn't mention Tesla by name, the bill was intended as a shot at the company, whose sales model threatens the traditional dealer-as-middleman concept that dominates how cars are sold.
The North Carolina bill made it through their senate, but the Raleigh News & Observer reports that House members weren't too keen on it — in part because of Tesla's strong quarterly profits, and because they liked the Model S after taking it for a test drive along with Gov. Pat McCrory.
In the end the senate offered the House Transportation Committee a version of the bill with the anti-Tesla restrictions stripped out, which they approved. Later, a state senator confirmed the anti-Tesla proposal was dead and that "we're not going to bring that back," the newspaper reported.
So good on Tesla for emerging victorious in another fight with dealers, and for winning people over with the strength of their product. That's the second in a week — last Friday the New York State Assembly ended its session without taking action on a similar bill.
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