Tesla Opens Store on Tribal Land in New Mexico, Avoids Dealer Rule
Electric-vehicle maker Tesla (TSLA) – Get Tesla Inc Report opened a store and repair shop on Native American land in Nambé Pueblo, N.M., just north of Santa Fe.
Tesla has for years been fighting to bypass dealerships and sell cars directly to consumers, the Associated Press reported. This is the Palo Alto, Calif., company’s first such opening on tribal land.
The tribal land is not subject to state laws and the company can offer sales and repairs without going through dealerships.
Tesla is allowed to sell its vehicles and services without a dealership only in about a dozen states, the AP reported,
“These states have lots of sovereign Native American nations in them that could be interested in Tesla. I don’t believe at all that this will be the last,” Brian Dear, president of the Tesla Owners Club of New Mexico, told the AP.
Shares of Tesla at last check were down 0.8% to $750.06.
In separate Tesla news, Cathie Wood’s Ark Investment sold 81,600 shares of the company valued at $61.7 million at Wednesday’s close.
The sales came in the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) – Get ARK Innovation ETF Report and the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) – Get ARK Next Generation Internet ETF Report.
ARK Innovation unloaded 70,161 shares, and ARK Next Generation shed 11,448.
That puts the value of ARK ETFs’ total Tesla sales so far this month at $266 million, according to Bloomberg.
The funds have dumped more than 350,000 shares during that period, but the Palo Alto, Calif., automaker remains their biggest holding, according to Bloomberg.