Dan Crane spoke last week to a full house at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s most recent Issues and Ideas Forum. On Sunday, the Lansing State Journal published an op-ed he authored laying out some of his main ideas.

The op-ed explains how a year-old statute signed into law by Gov. Rick Snyder prohibits auto manufacturers like Tesla Motors from selling their vehicles directly to consumers. Crane told the 50-plus attendees at the forum that restricting product distribution in this way increases the cost of vehicles and stifles innovation.

There is no good reason to prohibit a manufacturer from dealing directly with customers. A customer who shops at an Apple store for an iPad or iPhone is hardly being exploited. Many other states like California, the hub of innovation, allow car manufacturers to deal directly with consumers. I am unaware of any evidence that manufacturers are doing a worse job than dealers in taking care of their customers.

Read the complete op-ed at the Lansing State Journal.

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