Attorney General Jeff Landry has chimed in on a lawsuit from Tesla against Lousiana car dealers, saying that state laws prohibiting direct car sales protect the consumer (via NOLA.com).
The lawsuit was filed by Tesla in the U.S. District Court in Louisiana’s Eastern District in August, claiming that direct-sales laws “effectively shut out of Louisiana the consumer-centric, free-market solution that is a more efficient, consumer friendly business model for today’s automotive consumer.”
In a follow-up filing on Tuesday, Landry’s office countered the claims, saying that the law is meant to “interpose a dealer between vehicle manufacturers/distributors and consumers…to protect the state’s consumers from pernicious practices in motor vehicle transactions.”
Tesla Plans ‘First of its Kind’ Lithium Refinery in Texas, Also Considers Louisiana https://t.co/zqlEbKsKis
— TeslaNorth.com (@RealTeslaNorth) September 9, 2022
Additionally, Landy says that Tesla’s suit doesn’t invoke any state entities but only dealers themselves, which is why he feels the need to intervene.
“Conspicuously unnamed is the commission itself, thus leaving the case without a ‘state or any agency, officer, or employee thereof’ as a party to the litigation,” said the filing on Tuesday.
The lawsuit claims that state commissions and dealerships have colluded to exclude Tesla from direct sales.
“Tesla has uncovered communications between the dealers association’s members and the commission evidencing a common purpose to exclude Tesla from operating in Louisiana,” says the lawsuit.
“Although Louisiana law (unconstitutionally) prohibits Tesla from selling its vehicles in Louisiana, nothing in Louisiana law prohibits Tesla from leasing its vehicles in Louisiana or providing warranty repairs and services for the many Tesla vehicles in Louisiana.”
Tesla has a lone service center located at 2801 Tchoupitoulas St. in New Orleans, which opened three years ago.
