Tesla builds 1st store on tribal land, dodges state car laws
Howard Coe poses in front of his wife’s Tesla sedan on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021, on a road near Nambé Pueblo outside of Santa Fe, N.M. Coe welcomed the opening of a new Tesla store and repair shop where he can pickup an SUV he’s buying. Last year, he and his wife had to pick up her car in Denver, Colo., about five hours away, because of New Mexico laws that bar companies like Tesla from selling cars directly to customers. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio)
AP
NAMBÉ, N.M.
Carmaker Tesla has opened a store and repair shop on Native American land for the first time, marking a new approach to its yearslong fight to sell cars directly to consumers and cut car dealerships out of the process.
The white-walled, silver-lettered Tesla store, which opened last week, sits in Nambé Pueblo, north of Santa Fe, on tribal land that’s not