The Virginia Automobile Dealers Association is getting in touch with state regulatory authorities to examine and sanction Tesla Motors for alleged infractions at its current places in the state.
As noted in a 10-page letter to the Virginia Motor Vehicle Dealer Board on May 31, VADA CEO Don Hall asks for an examination of Tesla’s practices at its licensed car dealership place in Tysons Corner and its unlicensed gallery at a close-by shopping center.
“VADA believes it has a duty to bring these repeated violations to the attention of the MVDB so that the MVDB may protect its credibility in the face of such reckless law-breaking,” Hall stated. He included an e-mail to Automotive News that the Motor Vehicle Dealer Board, the state agency accused with oversight of the car dealer market, has “100 percent authority to stop Tesla, thus our letter.”
Hall stated proof of the alleged infractions emerged in a Department of Motor Vehicles hearing on Tesla’s bid for a 2nd dealer permit in the state. The dealerships association is opposing that permit quote and filed a claim against Tesla and the DMV in March to keep the second car dealership from occurring.
A Tesla spokeswoman slammed the dealerships association’s actions.
“The franchised dealer lobby in Virginia is taking every possible step, whether through lawsuits, PR campaigns or outright harassment, to try to prevent Virginians from being able to buy cars from Tesla,” Khobi Brooklyn stated in an e-mail.
“Each of these actions is legally wrongful and threatens to move Virginia backwards. Virginians who would like to be able to buy a car from Tesla should have the right to do so. Tesla will continue to fight for that.”
Among the declared violations the VADA implicates Tesla of in the letter: Running an unlicensed sales operation, consisting of test drives, at the mall location; processing fee infractions; failing to reveal online systems submitting charges, taxes and governmental fees; and inappropriate marketing.
