Not to speak to the rest of the topic, but focusing on direct sales: I'm almost certain Ford would love to sell direct, but the various franchise laws in diffe

Not to speak to the rest of the topic, but focusing on direct sales: I'm almost certain Ford would love to sell direct, but the various franchise laws in different states make it next to impossible. On top of this, dealership owners are typically quite powerful in terms of local politics, which makes such laws very difficult to overturn. For example: Texas: https://www.txdmv.gov/dealers/licensing/franchise https://www.txdmv.gov/dealers/licensing/franchise Florida: https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0300-0399/0320/Sections/0320.642.html https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Disp... California: https://www.nmvb.ca.gov/protest/protest_establish_new_fran.html https://www.nmvb.ca.gov/protest/protest_establish_new_fran.h...