Automakers, including General Motors and Ford Motor Co., opposed the bill when it was introduced. They argued the legislation would give a single company, Tesla, a different set of rules. Startup EV companies, seeing a path in the lawsuit agreement allowing them to follow Tesla’s model, also opposed the bill.
The Tesla-specific language was removed from the bill before it passed the House last week.
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents automakers including Ford and GM, told Automotive News it now has taken a neutral position on the bill after provisions for Tesla and another affecting warranty reimbursements were removed.
An alliance spokesman did not respond to a question asking whether the group asked lawmakers to remove the Tesla carve-out. But GM, Ford and the UAW all worked to convince state legislators to exclude Tesla’s exemption, a move that would generate enough votes in the House to pass the bill, The Detroit News first reported Thursday night, citing sources.
A Ford spokeswoman declined to comment, deferring to the alliance. Representatives for GM and Tesla did not respond to messages from Automotive News.
GM told The Detroit News that the carmaker also has taken a neutral stance on the revised bill, adding, “As we work towards our all-electric future, we support a level playing field that works for customers, dealers and automakers.”
GM and Ford both have partnered with EV startups as the automakers accelerate their electrification strategies. Ford last year invested $500 million into Rivian, while GM recently revised a partnership with electric truckmaker Nikola Corp. that focuses on fuel cell technology. Those investments are part of a larger backdrop of industry electrification, with nearly 100 new models expected from automakers in the next few years.
Automakers’ EV plans have come with some consternation from franchised dealers. About 150 U.S. Cadillac dealers have elected to take buyouts from the brand rather than invest hundreds of thousands of dollars on chargers and tooling that will be needed to support the introduction of electric vehicles, starting with the Lyriq in 2022. And GMC is taking more control over sales of the upcoming Hummer electric pickup — while it will be sold through franchised dealerships, retailers initially will receive the truck if customers choose their store while reserving online through the brand’s website.
Burns told Automotive News in September that “we stand on the same position we’ve always stood on, and that is, for the last 30 years, every other manufacturer in the world that sells vehicles here uses the franchise system.”
State Rep. Jason Sheppard, a Republican who sponsored the bill, did not return multiple messages seeking comment.
State Rep. Christine Greig, the Michigan House Democratic leader, proposed an amendment she said would have offered a limited number of licenses after seeing how other states handled the direct-sales issue. It failed on the floor.
The revised bill “still left the state vulnerable — in my opinion, anyway — to lawsuits, so what was the purpose?” said Greig, who voted against the bill. “It wasn’t solving any problems other than to make sure that Michigan didn’t move forward as the market changed.”
Of removing the Tesla provision, she added: “I think that was just more palatable to the manufacturers that already had the dealer franchise model and were in the EV space.”
