I. The Regulated Industries Facing Change
A. The Canary in the Coal Mine
1. The automotive industry is home to the most comprehensive set of laws regulating the distribution, sale and service of products. These motor vehicle dealer laws (“MVDLs”) vary by state, but typically follow a common slate of regulations that control the relationship between suppliers and their dealers, and control consumer-facing sales activity.
2. Several industries utilize a similar “dealer” model, with suppliers selling to a network of dealers, and dealers selling to retail customers. These other regulated industries see “copycat” dealer laws—dealer laws that can be considered “watered down” versions of their MVDL counterpart. As MVDLs change, similar changes in other industries are often not far behind. Accordingly, legislative developments and trends in the automotive world are the proverbial canary in the coal mine for other industries.
3. As the automotive world transitions to EVs, a number of new EV OEMs enter the market, and legacy OEMs endeavor to emulate some of Tesla’s business models, state MVDLs may be at an inflection point, with changes that could ripple across other regulated industries.