In Arizona where I live one of the biggest campaign contributors for any party is a family that owns dealerships across the state. According to this article [1] in 2010 this same family/company contributed more to political campaigns than did General Motors (see #6 on the list). Yes it's crazy that a corporation can donate - but that's another issue altogether.
I don't think a politician is concerned about jobs as much as they are concerned with campaign contributions.
I've seen first hand how campaign contributions work between the wealthy and politicians. It's unreal. In 2004 my uncle (founder of a big time HMO) contributed to the Bush campaign. In return he was granted exclusive time to the President to address whatever concerns he had. The White House would call him to guide the President on policy decisions. The White House will never call you or me for our opinion because we didn't pay for that privilege.
> I've seen first hand how campaign contributions work between the wealthy and politicians.
How funny it is to see people complaining about the "government", when really these days the government is merely the sock puppet of the biggest piles of money (big corpo, the ultra-rich), who use it to buy legislation and policy decisions that further their own interests.
While the dogs keep barking at the rag doll, the real person keeps kicking them in the backside.
Aside from property taxes on the dealerships' land holdings, most states have ad valorem taxes on cars. This is typically paid whether you bought the car in the state or not, often at the time you register the vehicle in a state. This is also, typically, an annual tax. So if I buy a car in FL and register it in GA, I'll essentially pay sales tax twice (once in FL and once at registration in GA, also depends on how much the ad valorem tax is). So GA tax revenue will be consistent whether I buy it from the dealership or from Tesla.
Regarding employees, direct sales will reduce the number of sales people, yes. Or it'll change the nature of the salesman's job. From pusher on a commission to a salaryman. Now, Tesla and other electrics may not need frequent work done by mechanics (even the standard maintenance stuffs), but other cars still would. Just because I bought my Subaru from Subaru proper instead of the local dealership doesn't mean I won't need to take it in for service every 6 (or so) months.
And if electric cars really do have an effect on employment of mechanics and service technicians, then that's the consequence. We can't legislate the cars away to preserve jobs anymore than we can legislate manufacturing robots away to preserve the jobs of the assembly line worker. (That said, a change in employment status of a large segment of the population will have to be dealt with. Either by charity, retraining, welfare or some combination of those and other methods I've not mentioned.)
Car registration fees are not sales taxes. You only pay the sales tax once, on the purchase. You might pay a use tax if you ship or otherwise transfer the car to another state, but for the most part use tax laws are not well enforced. Sales taxes in most states go into the general fund.
The registration fee is a fixed amount that is not dependent on the price of the car. You pay an annual registration fee in every state in which you reside and intend to use the car. The registration fee in most states goes into a restricted use fund that pays for things like road maintenance.
Similar to what the others say, in GA the ad valorem is paid annually and is based on the value of the vehicle. This is (was?) true in NC circa 2010 (when I moved) as well. Though, now in GA you pay the tax once on new (? not sure the criteria, either vehicle model year or sale date) vehicles, and the sales tax (if purchased in GA) counts as the one time ad valorem.
Oh, I'm not arguing in favor of the rent-seeking of car dealerships -- I just think it's important to remember that not every legal regime is the natural end result of corruption. The car dealerships have this cozy arrangement because they pay loads of local taxes, employ lots of people, and have a strong and well organized lobby.
People may not enjoy the car buying process, but many of them will still choose to put up with it if it means keeping their neighbors employed. Because if the neighbor loses their job, they can lose their home to foreclosure, and foreclosed homes reduce the market value of the rest of the houses in the neighborhood... and so on.
I think you overestimate people's concern with their neighbor's job opportunities versus their own welfare/comfort. I point to Walmart as just the tip of the iceburg in making my case.
