Tesla Motors Inc continues its battle with local dealers: on Wednesday the Virginia Automobile Dealers Association (VADA) filed a lawsuit against Tesla, to keep the electric car maker from opening a second dealership in the state.
According to VADA Virginia state officials and Tesla would violate a 2013 agreement that Tesla could not consider owning and operating a second dealership in Virginia until at least August 2017. Tesla opened a dealership in Tysons Corner in the relatively affluent area of northern Virginia, in February 2015. According to VADA representatives the opening of a second dealership in Virginia by Tesla was intended to happen very quickly, in the dark of the night, in hopes that no one could know about it.
Tesla's efforts to open a second dealership were kept in the dark for a quite long time. Tesla has been fighting for the right to own and operate its own dealerships, and has sought to open its own stores in several states despite franchise laws that generally do not allow a manufacturer to own and operate an auto dealership.