Tesla CEO Elon Musk has already compared the situation to the equivalent of mafia tactics, and Tesla claims that this move in Missouri would be tantamount to a “sneak attack” which will “thwart due process and hurt consumer freedom in Missouri.”
At this point in time, Tesla has only one store in Missouri, in St. Louis, with plans to open up another, but it seems that new language had been inserted into a bill which was previously focused on off-road vehicles, and it would “bar Tesla from selling its vehicles direct to consumers in the state.”
It does not seem to be cooked up as the bill does state, “In enacting subsection 3 of this section, it is the express intent of the legislature to prevent any manufacturer of new motor vehicles from circumventing the public policy as stated in section 407.811, by engaging in methods of retailing new motor vehicles which are designed to avoid the provisions of sections 407.810 to 407.835.”