State-sanctioned corruption. If you're looking for the justifications, here's an explanation from a Cato article (pp. 3-6): Why Restrictions on Online Auto Sa

State-sanctioned corruption. If you're looking for the justifications, here's an explanation from a Cato article (pp. 3-6): Why Restrictions on Online Auto Sales? The franchise laws that inhibit the new business models for car sales from spreading online are defended as being important for protecting dealers and consumers from automobile manufacturers. Defenses of those laws, which became widespread in the 1950s, revolve around two arguments: first, that restrictive franchise laws are needed to protect consumers and, second, that such laws are needed to protect distributors from rapacious manufacturers[...] http://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/bp58.pdf http://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/bp58.pdf