Volkswagen has secured $1.3 billion from South Carolina to build its only North American Scout Motors plant near Columbia, but its push to sell directly to customers has created controversy across the state.
States nationally have begun changing laws to allow electric vehicle manufacturers such as Scout Motors and Tesla to sell directly to consumers. South Carolina now prevents direct sales for several reasons, mostly to protect the nearly 1,500 auto dealerships across the state.
Times have changed since those laws were enacted in the 1960s and ’70s, and the need for dealerships is dwindling,” said Jamie Lovegrove, a Scout Motors representative. “We feel pretty good about the fact that customers want something else. Car dealers are, the reality is, extremely unpopular.”…