The White House petition backs direct sales of Tesla cars, which aren't sold at car dealerships. July 2, 2013 11:19 AM PDT Vox populi. (Credit: The White House) More the 100,000 people have signed a White House petition to allow Tesla to sell cars directly to the public. The White House says it will review any petitions that muster sufficient support and then send them on to "appropriate policy experts" before issuing an official response. The idea behind the petition came from a Tesla fan going by the name of Ken -- declining to reveal his full name -- who recently told CNET he doesn't think "states should prevent direct car sales." Ken said he doesn't work for Tesla but owns stock in the company. The White House launched the We the People petitioning platform in October 2011. Representatives for the White House and Tesla were not immediately available. We've reached out for comment and will update the post when there's more information. This is part of a bigger battle between Tesla, which doesn't go through dealer distribution, and certain states, which are trying to protect local auto retailers by blocking direct sales of vehicles. The analogy is imprecise but there's a long history of tension between retail and direct sales when it comes to high-technology products. In the 1980s, for instance, computer stores built up thriving businesses, charging top dollar for products that at the time were little understood by the public. That hand-holding translated into fat margins for computer dealers, who were able to ride the initial boom in popularity that followed the introduction of IBM's first PC in 1981. But that era would be over by the end of that decade as retailers came under increasing pressure from mail order upstarts, such as Dell Computer and Gateway 2000.
The White House petition backs direct sales of Tesla cars, which aren't sold at car dealerships.
Vox populi.
(Credit: The White House)
More the 100,000 people have signed a White House petition to allow Tesla to sell cars directly to the public.
The White House says it will review any petitions that muster sufficient support and then send them on to "appropriate policy experts" before issuing an official response.
The idea behind the petition came from a Tesla fan going by the name of Ken -- declining to reveal his full name -- who recently told CNET he doesn't think "states should prevent direct car sales." Ken said he doesn't work for Tesla but owns stock in the company.
The White House launched the We the People petitioning platform in October 2011. Representatives for the White House and Tesla were not immediately available. We've reached out for comment and will update the post when there's more information.
This is part of a bigger battle between Tesla, which doesn't go through dealer distribution, and certain states, which are trying to protect local auto retailers by blocking direct sales of vehicles. The analogy is imprecise but there's a long history of tension between retail and direct sales when it comes to high-technology products. In the 1980s, for instance, computer stores built up thriving businesses, charging top dollar for products that at the time were little understood by the public.
That hand-holding translated into fat margins for computer dealers, who were able to ride the initial boom in popularity that followed the introduction of IBM's first PC in 1981. But that era would be over by the end of that decade as retailers came under increasing pressure from mail order upstarts, such as Dell Computer and Gateway 2000.
