[darkarmani]

> The traditional dealer franchise system is best for car buyers, Wolters insists, because it preserves competition between dealerships selling the same products.

I'm not sure I understand this argument. If I follow this argument to completion, what they are basically saying is that when you have lots of middlemen selling the same product, that "preserves" competition between them, limiting the amount of additional cost they add. Wouldn't removing the middleman also remove that additional cost?

[Contero]

I think the idea is that if the manufacturer was the only one selling, that they could inflate their prices higher than what the middleman overhead would be since they're the only one offering that product.

Why he thinks competition between brands isn't enough to counteract this I have no idea.

[darkarmani]

> I think the idea is that if the manufacturer was the only one selling

But aren't they the only ones selling tesla cars to the dealers anyway? Couldn't they just inflate their prices to the dealers?

[revelation]

Exactly. Price differences for the very same product is not competition, its market inefficiency.