RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Electric car company Tesla has scored a victory in Virginia and will be allowed to open a second store in the state.
Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Richard D. Holcomb approved Wednesday the company’s request to open a store in the Richmond area. Tesla already has a store in Northern Virginia.
The politically powerful Virginia Automobile Dealers Association opposed Tesla’s planned second store. The association said Tesla should have to sell its cars through independent car dealers, just like other car manufacturers.
But Tesla argued that it’s an unconventional company whose fixed-price cars don’t fit the traditional franchise model.
A company vice president, Diarmuid O’Connell, praised Holcomb’s ruling and said the company plans to begin construction on the new store “swiftly.”
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