Rivian Teases Jobs For Georgia If The State Considers Direct Sales

According to Automotive News, Rivian is using jobs as bait to get direct sales going in Georgia. Jalopnik reports: Last fall, Rivian made a huge announcement. It wanted to invest in Georgia and bring thousands of jobs to the state. The company announced that it had plans to build a $5 billion plant that would eventually employ 7,000 workers and build 400,000 vehicles a year (a tall order for a company that sells vehicles that are more than the median U.S. household income). State lawmakers damn near drooled over the plan. Georgia governor Brian Kemp even proposed spending $125 million on land and training for the plant. But Rivian had a favor to ask: Pass Georgia house bill 460 to allow direct sales in the state. Not just for them, but for all manufacturers. Rivian has pretty much backed the state of Georiga into a corner. While the state has allowed an exemption for Tesla to perform direct sales since 2015, no other automaker has been allowed to perform direct sales. Of course, dealers see this as a direct threat to their existence. President of Atlanta-based Jim Ellis Automotive Group Jimmy Ellis pretty much argued that dealers give customers the best product selection and service [...]. He then pointed to Tesla's struggle with vehicle service to emphasize his point. Dealers are even arguing about a loss of jobs. But we all know what that is about: Franchise dealers know that direct sales are a better way to do business for the customer. They're just so stuck in their ways and greedy that they don't want to change.

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