The corrupt NJ Governor (Dough Boy Christie) folds to a special interest group - the 'New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers' (NJCAR), and passes law banning the direct sale to consumers by the Tesla Motors Company, which is and always has been, their policy.

So he is throwing jobs and consumer savings on electric automobiles out the window in favor of financial campaign support by local unions for his own benefit.....

Figures.....


If Tesla is your choice, you might have a hard time finding one after the state Motor Vehicle Commission today unanimously passed new rules that will limit Tesla's direct sales business model.

The new rules made more stringent the need for a franchised dealer, a model that the electric carmaker says is "anti-Tesla" as the carmaker operates through storefronts that allow for buyers to purchase directly from the manufacturer.

"The Administration has decided to go outside the legislative process by expediting a rule proposal that would completely change the law in New Jersey," the company said in a statement posted on its corporate website. "This new rule, if adopted, would curtail Tesla's sales operations and jeopardize our existing retail licenses in the state."...

...But a Tesla official disputed the governor's assessment of its past relationship with the administration.

"The statute in New Jersey plainly allows Tesla to be licensed to sell cars there," said Diarmuid O'Connell, Vice President of Business Development at Tesla. "Indeed, the Motor Vehicle Commission has licensed Tesla under that statute ever since October 2012, and any suggestion that Tesla was told 'since the beginning' about any problem with its ability to be licensed there is false. The only thing that has changed is the Christie Administration's sudden decision to go around the Legislature in an attempt to enact a rule that the statute doesn't permit. Worse, it has done so without any reasonable notice or even a public hearing." �...

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/03/motor_vehicle_commission_passes_anti-tesla_rule_1.html

Tesla lashes out at Chris Christie

"This is an affront to the very concept of a free market," Tesla Motors (TSLA) said in a blog post on Tuesday.

...Christie has the support of Jim Appleton, who is president of the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers, also known as NJ Car. Appleton said that Tesla never should have been approved to sell cars directly in New Jersey in the first place.

"Tesla is a wonderful product but unfortunately the company has chosen an unwise and in New Jersey unlawful distribution method," he said...

http://money.cnn.com/2014/03/11/news/companies/tesla-new-jersey/index.html

New Jersey Becomes Third State To Ban Tesla'��s Direct Sales Model

New Jersey is the third state to ban the practice of selling cars directly to consumers, joining Arizona and Texas in preventing their residents from easily buying a more environmentally friendly ride. The New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers was in favor of the rule change, unsurprisingly.

Tesla is furious, claiming in a blog post released today - in advance of the meeting in which the rule change was enacted (which Tesla was informed of yesterday) - that Governor Chris Christie'��s administration had "gone back on its word to delay a proposed anti-Tesla regulation so that the matter could be handled through a fair process in the Legislature."

The company also alleged that New Jersey had been sitting on the "renewal of [its] current dealer licenses without indication of the cause of the delay."�� Given that delay, and the quick change in the wind from a legislative discussion to a squashing of its model, it appears that Tesla has just run face-first into New Jersey politics.

http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/11/new-jersey-becomes-third-state-to-ban-teslas-direct-sales-model/

Tesla Responds

Defending Innovation and Consumer Choice in New Jersey

Since 2013, Tesla Motors has been working constructively with the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (NJMVC) and members of Governor Christie's administration to defend against the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers' (NJ CAR) attacks on Tesla's business model and the rights of New Jersey consumers. Until yesterday, we were under the impression that all parties were working in good faith.

Unfortunately, Monday we received news that Governor Christie's administration has gone back on its word to delay a proposed anti-Tesla regulation so that the matter could be handled through a fair process in the Legislature. The Administration has decided to go outside the legislative process by expediting a rule proposal that would completely change the law in New Jersey. This new rule, if adopted, would curtail Tesla'��s sales operations and jeopardize our existing retail licenses in the state. Having previously issued two dealer licenses to Tesla, this regulation would be a complete reversal to the long standing position of NJMVC on Tesla's stores. Indeed, the Administration and the NJMVC are thwarting the Legislature and going beyond their authority to implement the state's laws at the behest of a special interest group looking to protect its monopoly at the expense of New Jersey consumers. This is an affront to the very concept of a free market.


http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/defending-innovation-and-consumer-choice-new-jersey

not enough Kickbacks to the Cronies I suppose!

No union funds "donated" thru Tesla to the rino-demoncrap