Texas Politics 365: auto dealers

Saturday, March 18, 2023

House Committee Approves Ban Of Paper Temporary License Plates

[#TexasPolitics365]

The Texas House Transportation Committee unanimously approved a bill Wednesday that would eliminate paper temporary license plates in Texas.

The bill would require a switch to metal plates instead in an effort to stop widespread problems with fraudulent paper tags often sold illegally online.

A yearlong NBC 5 investigation exposed how criminals use fraudulent paper plates to evade police while smuggling drugs and even committing violent crimes.

In the wake of our reporting, lawmakers called for changes in the state’s temporary tag system. The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles also made leadership changes and cracked down on small state-licensed car dealers involved in illegally selling real paper tags from the DMV’s online temporary tag system.

(Full story HERE.)
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Saturday, May 29, 2021

Dealership Law Means Austin-Built Teslas Must First Be Shipped Out-of-State For Texas Buyers

[#TexasPolitics365]

Tesla is on the verge of having to jump through the most ridiculous loopholes because of an arcane law: having to ship its Austin-built Cybertrucks out of the state before it can sell (and ship) them back to Lone Star buyers.

Under Texas franchise laws, which are similar to those in most other states, automakers like Toyota and General Motors cannot sell you a car. They must sell their cars to independently owned third-party businesses that in turn sell them to Texans—you know, new-car dealerships.

As it stands, Tesla’s company-owned outlets cannot legally sell a car in Texas, nor can the company “deliver” a car within the state even if bought by a Texan.

And the state legislature did not pass a bill to fix the problem, as widely expected. The legislative session ends this week, and they do not meet again until 2023

(Full story here.)
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