[bob13579]

1) The large corporate interests don't own that infrastructure. The actual owners can choose whoever they want to represent.

2) What's stopping Tesla from partnering with Toyota dealers?

3) With its $10B valuation, Tesla could build 10 very nice dealerships for 1% of its valuation.

[mhurron]

> What's stopping Tesla from partnering with Toyota dealers?

My guess is Tesla not wanting to slap a bunch of dealer costs on top of the cost of the cars.

> Tesla could build 10 very nice dealerships for 1% of its valuation.

As I understand it, Tesla owning those dealerships would be just as illegal. If Tesla doesn't own the dealerships, they're either going to share the profits of the sold cars with the dealership or deal with the dealers markup and dealers fees increasing the costs of the cars.

[jbooth]

To be clear, this is more about inertia than it is some nefarious cabal erecting barriers to Tesla.

But, if the regulation was a big problem for the corporate interests? The regulations would definitely not still be here. When it comes to money and regulations, I like to picture water acting on rock over time -- they get carved away a little bit at a time.

[runako]

IIRC auto manufacturers are prohibited by law from owning dealerships. So Tesla would be introducing a dependency of variable quality between itself and its customers.