Wheels with Ed Wallace Spins Prohibiting In-State Texas Tesla Sales as Consumer Protection
2021 October 11
The October 9, 2021 edition of the
Wheels with Ed Wallace show featured a repeat of the false narrative that
consumer protection is the reason that Texas law prohibits car manufacturers
from owning their dealerships. As covered previously by Outside
Automotive, another automotive show radio host explains that that Texas law
exists to protect dealerships. In fact,
radio
host, Jerry Reynolds, was part of the lobbyist group who got that
anti-consumer, protectionist law passed.
Wallace detests auto
manufacturers like Tesla that solely sell directly to consumers. It eliminates the profit for his sponsoring
dealers, therefore blocking any advertising dollars flowing into Wallace's
pocket. So, anytime someone questions the Texas
prohibition, Wallace pounces. In this
case, Wallace took issue with the
Houston Chronicle Ariana Garcia story about Tesla moving its headquarters
to Texas despite not being to sell cars locally in Texas. ♫
Wallace complains that the title states that one cannot buy a Tesla, while he
sees plenty of Tesla vehicles on the Texas road. Of course, this is another lie by omission, as Wallace skips past
the subtitle which clearly states that the prohibition is on local purchases.
Later in the show, ♫ Wallace admits
that the Houston Chronicle’s article title is correct “to a degree", while
pushing the false narrative that the law exists to protect consumers. Jerry
Reynolds, who helped create that law, states clearly that the law was to
protect dealerships. Furthermore,
the Texas prohibition on direct sales by auto manufacturers costs the consumer
in several ways. As reported by the
public radio show Texas Standard, the lack
of in-state dealers caused many Texans who purchased Tesla vehicles to not have
received the state's $2,500 incentive for electric cars. As such, Texas Tesla consumers must follow
the more expensive
and lengthy process for car purchases made from out-of-state dealers. Willfully ignoring the unnecessary costs
and hurdles imposed by the prohibition on local car manufacturer direct sales,
Wallace preaches that the law helps the consumer. To paraphrase the great President Ronald Reagan: The most terrifying words in the English language
are: “I'm Ed Wallace and I'm here to help.”
As for ♫ Wallace’s
assertion that car dealers "couldn’t care less" about Tesla selling
cars direct, nothing could be further from the truth. The
Texas
Automobile Dealers Association fights every legislative attempt to change the
law to allow auto manufacturers such as Tesla to sell directly in Texas. In 2019, the
Texas Automobile Dealers Association went further and backed legislation that
would have prevented Tesla from operating its existing in-state service centers. Texas car dealers might not sue, but they
repeatedly lobby [bribe] legislators to pass laws that block their
competition. So, the dealerships
actions prove that they care. And
behold, another false narrative from Ed Wallace.
This was not the first time, and it wont be the last time, when Wallace promotes the false narrative that the car manufacturer direct sales prohibition is about consumer protection. So when ♫ Wallace talks of reporters who have destroyed their credibility, Ed Wallace himself is a premier example of such a person with his lie about why the law exists, his lie that the current Tesla purchase process in Texas is illegal, and his lie that existing Texas dealerships care not about Tesla sales in Texas.
