Auto Dealers Beg, Yes Beg Government for Protection from Competition - Free Enterprise is for Everyone Else

And Don't Expect Conservatives to Fight Regulation on This

The problem with conservatives is that they talk the talk but don't walk the walk.  So if one examines government regulation which protects businesses from competition, as opposed to government regulation which protects consumers, you know, the ones who need protection well conservatives are no where to be found.  Case in point, auto dealerships.

Now even though there doesn't seem to be data on the political preferences, it is fair to assume that auto dealers are dyed in the wool conservative Republicans.  After all their record on consumer protection is, well, dubious at best so it is natural that they would want to keep government regulation out of their business.  Well, natural except when government regulation protects them and harms consumers.  Then they are first to feed at the trough.

Case in point, Tesla which is a manufacturer of electric cars and wants to sell direct to the public.  Nothing wrong with that, America wants competition, it's what the country is all about.  But no, auto dealers want government to protect them, to prohibit free enterprise, to stop Tesla from selling cars.

The Virginia Automobile Dealers Association is going to court to appeal a recent decision by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles that would allow electric automobile maker Tesla Motors Inc. to open a company-owned dealership in the Richmond area.

What regulationsa is Tesla trying to violate?  Oh this.



The dealers association opposed Tesla’s petition for a second location, arguing that under state law the company must sell its cars through independent, franchise dealerships, as other automobile manufacturers do.


State law prohibits automobile makers from owning dealerships except under certain circumstances, such as when there are no independent dealers available in a community to sell an automaker’s cars “in a manner consistent with the public interest.”

And what is the purpose of such a law?  Why to protect business.  How do consumers benefit?  They don't.  What do free market conservatives say?  Nothing.