Lucid Slaps Texas With Lawsuit Over Dealership Legal guidelines

Lucid has filed a federal lawsuit in Texas claiming that the state’s guidelines on automotive dealerships damage its skill to promote automobiles within the state.

Like another U.S. states, Texas requires automotive producers to promote automobiles by established dealerships. Nonetheless, Lucid markets its automobiles on-line and sells them by a community of so-called Studios. It asserts that its direct gross sales and in-house after-sales service are intently tied and that utilizing an impartial franchised supplier community doesn’t make financial sense.

Learn: Entry-Stage Lucid Air Pure Begins At $89,050, A Entire Lot Extra Than The $69,900 Promised In 2020

Within the lawsuit, Lucid has accused Texas of “financial protectionism.” Auto Information notes that its authorized technique is just like one pursued by Tesla in Michigan that, after three years of litigation, noticed the electrical automotive chief granted the power to purchase and promote automobiles in Michigan. Like Lucid, Tesla is at present unable to promote automobiles in Texas.

“Whereas many states have welcomed Lucid, the State of Texas has barred Lucid from acquiring a license to function a dealership within the state,” the lawsuit reads. “Its place is {that a} Texas regulation meant to guard conventional sellers in opposition to competitors by the producers whose automobiles they promote additionally prohibits producers with out impartial sellers from working their very own dealerships. As utilized to Lucid, this prohibition is irrational within the excessive: it hurts competitors, reduces shopper alternative, and drives up prices and inconvenience, with no countervailing profit in anyway.”

Lucid provides that lowering competitors will damage Texas shoppers and that forcing the automotive producer to conduct gross sales exterior of Texas borders “makes it tougher, and even not possible, for Texas regulators to guard Texas shoppers.”

Information of this lawsuit comes only a few days after Lucid revealed that new Touring and Pure variants of the electrical Air sedan shall be introduced subsequent week. The Pure will sit on the base of the Lucid vary and begin at $89,050 whereas the Touring shall be accessible from $109,050.