It is good news for Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), as the bill that if passed would have forced the company to close shop in Indiana has been sidelined Thursday. According to reports, General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) had lobbied for creation of the bill that was introduced by State Representative Kevin Mahan.
Indiana consumers can buy Tesla electric cars directly and it has been operating in Indianapolis for last two years through a company store. As per the bill Tesla would have to work on the dealership model
As the bill was not passed, a Senate Committee has announced sending it for a summer study. According to a statement issued by Tesla, the company was looking forward for the forum and was confident that they would be able to voice the critical issues in vehicle sales.
GM Versus Tesla
GM and Tesla are gearing up to battle in the electric car market as the former is all set to release the Chevy Bolt and the latter is completing the Model 3. Thus the GM action is being analyzed as a gimmick to compete with Tesla but the company said that the move was aimed at stopping different rules from being made in the market for carmakers.
In a statement issued by GM, the company said that they were going to continue the concern on a national level for all markets being governed by different laws.
GM Stands Its Ground
Chris Meagher, spokesperson for GM said that the resolve of a special status by Tesla would only result in manufacturers in competing with different rules for similar products in the same market. Giving the example of the Tesla agreement in Virginia, Meagher stated that Tesla was already working on the dealership model there.
Tesla already has a dealership license for Indiana and argued that GM was supporting the bill to kick them out. Diarmuid O’Connell, Business Development VP at Tesla said that GM has made a business model decision earlier and there was confusion as why it was having a problem with Tesla having its direct sales model.
