- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a invoice banning direct-to-consumer automotive gross sales.
- However the invoice leaves a notable exception for electrical automotive corporations like Tesla.
- DeSantis has a comfy relationship with Tesla CEO Elon Musk who hosted DeSantis’ presidential marketing campaign launch on Twitter.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a invoice this week that retains automakers utilizing dealerships — with one notable exception for Elon Musk’s Tesla.
The measure bans automotive producers from promoting on to customers within the state and as an alternative requires them to depend on franchised dealerships.
However there is a carve-out within the laws for electrical automotive corporations like Musk’s Tesla to proceed promoting on to their prospects with out having to make use of a dealership.
Musk, who additionally owns Twitter, hosted DeSantis’ presidential marketing campaign launch on Twitter Areas final month.
After a glitchy begin, DeSantis formally launched his 2024 marketing campaign on an audio-only discussion board and answered questions on points starting from his ongoing feud with Disney to his campaign towards so-called “woke” ideology.
The Florida governor heaped reward on Musk, calling him a “free speech advocate” and thanking him for shelling out billions to buy Twitter.
DeSantis’ administration additionally struck a take care of Musk’s SpaceX final yr to arrange Starlink satellite tv for pc providers in components of southwest Florida that had been affected by Hurricane Ian.
Musk, in the meantime, has publicly expressed assist for DeSantis’ 2024 bid, writing in a tweet that former President Donald Trump — who’s presently the GOP frontrunner — is simply too previous for a 2024 run and that DeSantis would “simply win” towards President Joe Biden.
