Glenn Beck would buy a Tesla if he could.
The conservative media personality test drove one of the high-end electric vehicles and called it “the coolest thing I’ve ever driven.” One problem, though — Texas, where Beck lives, forbids Tesla Motors from selling directly to customers.
“Freedom is what separates Texas from New York and Connecticut,” Beck wrote in a Texas Tribune op-ed. “I’ve already left both of those states. If I have to leave Texas, I don’t know where else there is to go.”
If it seems odd for Beck to heap praise on a company that netted more than $400 million in federal loan guarantees through a stimulus program that has been a magnet for conservative criticism of the Obama administration’s energy policies, it’s really not.
A number of states bar direct sales from auto manufacturers to consumers because state laws often require dealerships to conduct those transactions. Auto dealer groups have successfully lobbied a handful of states where Tesla averted those restrictions to impose more regulatory hoops and protect dealerships’ role, or to allow a limited amount of Tesla “showrooms” — where the company allows test drives and viewing but not purchases.
Beck’s quandary is hardly unique, which the Washington Examiner has covered.
While auto dealers argue they serve as a consumer protection service between the manufacturer and the customer, many conservatives say the practice is monopolistic. Regulatory tweaks to permit Tesla sales with conditions, they say, amount to “regulatory capture” in which existing businesses seek to inhibit disruptive newcomers from entering the market.
Tesla has argued much of the same. Beck added his voice to Tesla’s calls.
“The Texas Automobile Dealers Association, which supports the franchise laws that restrict Tesla from selling in Texas, purports to protect consumers and prevent monopolies. But I don’t see how stopping Tesla from entering the marketplace accomplishes either of these goals,” Beck wrote.
“Forcing people to leave their state to buy a product burdens them. It doesn’t ‘protect’ them. Limiting competition creates monopolies. It doesn’t prevent them.”
