TESLA'S ELON MUSK BLASTS N.J. GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE
USA Today
(Photo: Jessica Brandi Lifland for USA TODAY)
Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk accuses New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie with making a "backroom deal" with the state's auto dealers to prevent the electric car maker from keeping its own sales centers open in the Garden State.
He says Tesla is seeking "judicial remedies" to the decision by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission this week that effectively ended Tesla's direct sales operation in the state. He calls upon New Jersey residents to protest to their state representatives.
"Governor Christie had promised that this would be put to a vote of the elected state legislature, which is the appropriate way to change the law," Musk writes on his blog today. "When it became apparent to the auto dealer lobby that this approach would not succeed, they cut a backroom deal with the Governor to circumvent the legislative process and pass a regulation that is fundamentally contrary to the intent of the law."
Billionaire Musk, who has showed repeatedly he isn't afraid to take on big targets in defense of Tesla, says the commission is packed with Christie appointees.
While it might seem easy to just to sign up with dealers, Musk says he rejects the model. He points to failures of past automotive startups and questions where dealers' interests lie. Also, he says he rejects using dealers as a place to make big profits from auto servicing.
"Auto dealers have a fundamental conflict of interest between promoting gasoline cars, which constitute virtually all of their revenue, and electric cars, which constitute virtually none," Musk writes. "Moreover, it is much harder to sell a new technology car from a new company when people are so used to the old. Inevitably, they revert to selling what's easy and it is game over for the new company. The evidence is clear: when has an American startup auto company ever succeeded by selling through auto dealers?"
For now, he says New Jersey customers can still order cars directly through Tesla's website and use the Tesla centers in New York City or near Philadelphia.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/03/14/elon-musk-chris-christie/6427135/