The electric car maker Tesla is setting up a "gallery" at the Domain shopping center this weekend. It’ll have its new electric cars on display. And while they can’t sell them in Texas without a dealership, the company can show the vehicles and take orders on the Internet.
“Tesla really wants to sell cars like Apple sells iPads,” said Rory Carroll, senior editor at Autoweek.com. “They want to have a store where customers can go in, check out their product and buy directly from the company, but in states like Texas there are laws that prohibit dealers from having to compete directly with the manufacturer.”
In Massachusetts, the state auto dealers association recently sued to prevent Tesla from opening its own factory store outside Boston. The judge ruled in Tesla’s favor, saying that because Tesla doesn’t have its own dealer network, it could open its own store. The dealers association is appealing.
