Tesla's Direct Sales Hopes Dashed In Texas

Tesla Motors goes the direct sales route, which involves it selling its cars directly to consumers rather than dealerships selling them. This is said to be necessary, according to Tesla, for a variety of reasons including proper consumer education on what the maker's cars are all about. It has encountered a lot of opposition from the industry for this, however, and in many instances has had to undergo legal battles to continue with its direct sales efforts. Texas, again, has proven most difficult.

Texas has not thus far proven successful for Tesla, which most recently had backed a pair of bills that would have given it the freedom to skip dealerships and sell its cars directly to buyers. Unfortunately, however, neither of those bills have made it to voting, and today marks the end of their bid.

Auto dealers are a big industry in Texas, and they've pushed hard to make sure Tesla — and any future companies that want to follow its lead — aren't able to skip them over. Reports Bloomberg, Texas is the second highest-selling state for the industry, following behind California.

Tesla has a large presence in Texas, including galleries where its vehicles are shown off. Until the legislation changes – and the next chance won't be until 2017 – the cars are shown on a look-only basis, as not even pricing can be discussed.

SOURCE: Bloomberg