Tesla, and the future of car sales

[eric]

Can anybody explain to me why in the world it should be illegal for a company to sell cars directly to the customer, and operate their own dealerships? It removes an inefficiency and additional cost, and will force car companies to directly deal with customer complaints, along with standardizing, and integrating dealerships.

I keep hearing about Tesla in the news having to fight in state after state to sell their cars. And I really can't think of any reason that they shouldn't be able to sell cars to people.

Obligatory article

http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexch ... dealership

[The Dharma Bum]

Well, capitalism is ostensibly predicated on the notion of that free exchange in aggregate will reveal the objective price of each product.

But the truth is market exchange is subject to so many distorting factors that there is no chance of this pricing mechanism actually functioning as it should. Not to mention value is an entirely subjective concept.

The result of this is an economy based on what is essentially naked price fixing. Which of course corrupts every institution that becomes involved in the scam. This is the situation and why we should desert the barbarous system of market exchange, wage slavery, and private property that currently exists.

It is but a form of modified feudalism, and thus is technically not classified as a civilized institution. So if we do not want to continue the decline the US is currently experiencing as the rest of the world develops beyond our control as we cling to the system that "always worked in the past" we had better start looking at the situation objectively and act accordingly.

[eric]

Well, idk about any of that. Sounds pretty dumb.

But in the meantime, eliminating car dealerships. Should definitely do that.

[The Dharma Bum]

We constantly deride Middle Eastern cultures as believing in a medieval form of religion, but we are just as bad because or social structure is is still essentially the same authoritarian system of fealty that developed during the feudal period.

It's been modified so what was once known as a peasant (the general population) is now allowed to take title to property, but that is really the only change. So while we speak high mindedly about how our culture has embraced individual freedom the truth is the intrinsic structure of our social system precludes this outcome as it is a system of fealty to an authority and thus diametrically opposed to the concept of individual autonomy.

This cuts to the very heart of the social issues we think of as the "human condition". The existence of many social ills is only the human condition because humans are in thrall to an exploitative system. All we have to do is THINK, and choose wisely to remedy the situation.

[The Dharma Bum]

[Gremlin]

Freedom isnt free, get over it!

[eric]

Yeah so that's dumb


In the meantime....

back to the OP!

[Gremlin]

Big business pays good money to legalize its activities.
Why should Tesla get special treatment?

[eric]

Well, excluding the fact they are a cool company

I'm not saying they should get special treatment. I'm saying I don't see any good reason that a manufacturer can't sell it's products directly.

[The Dharma Bum]

You were the one who said car dealerships suck, I merely explained why they suck and proposed a remedy to the problem. If you just make car dealerships illegal or whatever you are thinking it won't make any difference. Whatever takes it's place will suck just as bad, for the reasons I outlined above.

The reason the consumer experience never lives up to the hype is because commercial transactions in the context of capitalistic society are inherently exploitative. One will never get a "good deal" because profit is predicated on selling something for more than the actual costs accrued during production.