6 ms·

Plus no autoworkers' union, and no inefficient dealer network.

joezydeco 13y ago
He's still got an uphill battle on the dealer network thing. North Carolina being the latest problem: http://insideevs.com/hearing-on-tesla-selling-cars-in-north-carolina-set-for-may-7th-but-you-can-take-action-now/ http://insideevs.com/hearing-on-tesla-selling-cars-in-north-...
- mindcrime 13y ago
  Sometimes I am embarrassed to be from North Carolina. sigh For the record, not all of North Carolina is so backwards.
  - joezydeco 13y ago
    Don't sweat it. It actually has less to do about NC's citizens and a lot more to do with how the auto industry has dug it's claws into the legislatures of every state in the union. Your state isn't the only one in this situation. FYI this is a good podcast explaining how we got to this point: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/02/12/171814201/episode-435-why-buying-a-car-is-so-awful http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/02/12/171814201/episode-...
    - alexqgb 13y ago
      The exact same fight is being waged in Texas by the established dealers there. Here's a little known but closely related fact about Congress: its membership has long contained a disproportionate number of car dealers, which leads to "wins" for America like this: "Last summer...Congress approved a financial reform bill that specifically exempted auto dealers’ financing from regulation." http://www.publicintegrity.org/2011/04/11/3948/6-car-dealers-congress-industry-revs-horsepower-capitol-hill http://www.publicintegrity.org/2011/04/11/3948/6-car-dealers... This raises the larger point about car finance in general, which has become the heart and soul of the business. Essentially, the major car companies have become banks with manufacturing wings attached. The interests, skills, and motivations of their senior ranks tend to reflect this non-automotive set of priorities, so it's no wonder that Musk was able to poach serious talent. People who have obsessed about cars their entire lives finally found an employer who wouldn't leave them to die on the vine. Which brings us back to point #1 about business in general: it's not about what's on the table. It's what's in the chairs.
      - khafra 13y ago
        > Here's a little known but closely related fact about Congress: its membership has long contained a disproportionate number of car dealers, which leads to "wins" for America like this: "Last summer...Congress approved a financial reform bill that specifically exempted auto dealers’ financing from regulation." I'd never heard that before, but somehow, that Congress is full of used car salesmen is the least surprising fact I've learned in a long time.
      - greedo 13y ago
        The article you linked mentioned that six Representatives either owned or had owned a car dealership. I don't think this qualifies as disproportionate by any stretch. With 435 Representatives, that's about 1.4%. Compare that with Reps (and Senators) who were lawyers. I personally would rather have a Congressman who had some familiarity with business rather than being gentry for life in Congress.
        alexqgb 13y ago
        "I don't think this qualifies as disproportionate by any stretch." Here are the actual facts: A) US Population per the 2010 Census (i.e. the survey that determines levels of representation) ~ 308,400,000. B) 1.4% of this population = 4,317,600 (i.e. the number of car dealers that would need to exist for their current level of representation to be proportionate). C) Actual number of car dealers in America < 20,000. In other words, their level of representation is not only disproportionate, but wildly so. Like, by a factor of 215.
    - Symmetry 13y ago
      Well, it's more that NC counts car dealers among it's citizens but not Tesla Motors employees, and nobody else particularly cares about the issue.
  - tibbon 13y ago
    Ditto. I've pretty much just started telling people I'm actually from Boston. Reading the politics down there just makes me shake my head in shame.
- Mizza 13y ago
  And in Virginia, where they were denied a dealer license despite the investigators recommendation that it was in the public interest, seemingly because of an existing relationship between the DMV head and the dealership association's directors: https://openwatch.net/i/40/why-did-the-virginia-dmv-deny-tesla-motors-a-dea https://openwatch.net/i/40/why-did-the-virginia-dmv-deny-tes...
speleding 13y ago
Add to that the ability to set up shop wherever is most convenient: http://elonmusktesla.wordpress.com/2013/03/13/tesla-motors-to-expand-european-operations/ http://elonmusktesla.wordpress.com/2013/03/13/tesla-motors-t...

He's still got an uphill battle on the dealer network thing. North Carolina being the latest problem: http://insideevs.com/hearing-on-tesla-selling-cars-in-north-carolina-set-for-may-7th-but-you-can-take-action-now/ http://insideevs.com/hearing-on-tesla-selling-cars-in-north-...

mindcrime 13y ago
Sometimes I am embarrassed to be from North Carolina. sigh For the record, not all of North Carolina is so backwards.
- joezydeco 13y ago
  Don't sweat it. It actually has less to do about NC's citizens and a lot more to do with how the auto industry has dug it's claws into the legislatures of every state in the union. Your state isn't the only one in this situation. FYI this is a good podcast explaining how we got to this point: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/02/12/171814201/episode-435-why-buying-a-car-is-so-awful http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/02/12/171814201/episode-...
  - alexqgb 13y ago
    The exact same fight is being waged in Texas by the established dealers there. Here's a little known but closely related fact about Congress: its membership has long contained a disproportionate number of car dealers, which leads to "wins" for America like this: "Last summer...Congress approved a financial reform bill that specifically exempted auto dealers’ financing from regulation." http://www.publicintegrity.org/2011/04/11/3948/6-car-dealers-congress-industry-revs-horsepower-capitol-hill http://www.publicintegrity.org/2011/04/11/3948/6-car-dealers... This raises the larger point about car finance in general, which has become the heart and soul of the business. Essentially, the major car companies have become banks with manufacturing wings attached. The interests, skills, and motivations of their senior ranks tend to reflect this non-automotive set of priorities, so it's no wonder that Musk was able to poach serious talent. People who have obsessed about cars their entire lives finally found an employer who wouldn't leave them to die on the vine. Which brings us back to point #1 about business in general: it's not about what's on the table. It's what's in the chairs.
    - khafra 13y ago
      > Here's a little known but closely related fact about Congress: its membership has long contained a disproportionate number of car dealers, which leads to "wins" for America like this: "Last summer...Congress approved a financial reform bill that specifically exempted auto dealers’ financing from regulation." I'd never heard that before, but somehow, that Congress is full of used car salesmen is the least surprising fact I've learned in a long time.
    - greedo 13y ago
      The article you linked mentioned that six Representatives either owned or had owned a car dealership. I don't think this qualifies as disproportionate by any stretch. With 435 Representatives, that's about 1.4%. Compare that with Reps (and Senators) who were lawyers. I personally would rather have a Congressman who had some familiarity with business rather than being gentry for life in Congress.
      - alexqgb 13y ago
        "I don't think this qualifies as disproportionate by any stretch." Here are the actual facts: A) US Population per the 2010 Census (i.e. the survey that determines levels of representation) ~ 308,400,000. B) 1.4% of this population = 4,317,600 (i.e. the number of car dealers that would need to exist for their current level of representation to be proportionate). C) Actual number of car dealers in America < 20,000. In other words, their level of representation is not only disproportionate, but wildly so. Like, by a factor of 215.
  - Symmetry 13y ago
    Well, it's more that NC counts car dealers among it's citizens but not Tesla Motors employees, and nobody else particularly cares about the issue.
- tibbon 13y ago
  Ditto. I've pretty much just started telling people I'm actually from Boston. Reading the politics down there just makes me shake my head in shame.
Mizza 13y ago
And in Virginia, where they were denied a dealer license despite the investigators recommendation that it was in the public interest, seemingly because of an existing relationship between the DMV head and the dealership association's directors: https://openwatch.net/i/40/why-did-the-virginia-dmv-deny-tesla-motors-a-dea https://openwatch.net/i/40/why-did-the-virginia-dmv-deny-tes...

speleding 13y ago

Add to that the ability to set up shop wherever is most convenient: http://elonmusktesla.wordpress.com/2013/03/13/tesla-motors-to-expand-european-operations/ http://elonmusktesla.wordpress.com/2013/03/13/tesla-motors-t...