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 harm its skill to promote autos within the state.

Like another U.S. states, Texas requires automobile producers to promote autos by means of established dealerships. Nonetheless, Lucid markets its autos on-line and sells them by means of 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 much like one pursued by Tesla in Michigan that, after three years of litigation, noticed the electrical automobile chief granted the flexibility to purchase and promote autos in Michigan. Like Lucid, Tesla is at the moment unable to promote autos 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 legislation supposed to guard conventional sellers towards competitors by the producers whose autos 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 client alternative, and drives up prices and inconvenience, with no countervailing profit in any respect.”

Lucid provides that decreasing competitors will harm Texas shoppers and that forcing the automobile producer to conduct gross sales exterior of Texas borders “makes it tougher, and even unimaginable, for Texas regulators to guard Texas shoppers.”

Information of this lawsuit comes just some days after Lucid revealed that new Touring and Pure variants of the electrical Air sedan shall be offered 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.