This is The Weekend Shift, our one-stop weekly roundup of all the most important auto news you missed during the week. The world doesn't stop just because it's Saturday. Who says you should sleep in?
1st Gear: Tesla Tesla Tesla
Tesla's had a bit of a crazy week. After it announced that it was building a new factory, it's share price shot up, giving the company a value of over $30,000,000,000. Which is a lot. You know who else made a bunch of money?
Tesla founder Elon Musk. Dude banked over a billion. No, not in his life. In one day. If Travis got a dollar for every view his video got on Youtube this week, he'd still be many many dollars short.
But Tesla still can't open its own dealerships in Texas. Can't win 'em all, or something.
2nd Gear: But You Can't Even Get An Alfa Dealership If You Wanted One
Want to sell the hot new Alfa 4C? Too bad. It turns out that the 4C is so hot that Chrysler won't just let any dealer sell the car. You have to be good. One of the best.
Which means that it'll be mostly Maserati dealers and a very small number of Fiat dealers.
And there aren't exactly thousands of either, so more likely than not, it's not going to be you.
3rd Gear: GM's Recall Woes Continued To Pile Up
If Tesla had its best week ever, then General Motors had one of its worst, at least legally speaking. A little while ago the company was forced to recall 1,300,000 vehicles, which seems like a lot, until you remember that GM is one of the biggest automakers in the world, and when a company this size issues even a minor recall, it's likely to affect a lot of cars.
Except GM was forced to disclose in court documents that it didn't issue the recall until the affected part was a factor in the deaths of 13 people.
The National Highway Transportation Safety Authority has begun an investigation.
4th Gear: Fisker Owes A Crapton Of Money To People
As Fisker's bankruptcy and subsequent sale wends its way through the courts, more and more details spill out about the company's financial situation. And those details are never pretty:
From Delaware Online:
There have been $985.4 million in claims made against Fisker Automotive, according to a filing with the bankruptcy court on Friday.
The list, filed by the claims agent appointed by the court to the case, lists 618 claims by parties who say the plug-in hybrid manufacturer owes them money.
As always, those are just claims. The courts will probably decide which of those claims are legitimate, and then the structure of the bankruptcy and the original loan agreements will decide who actually gets paid, and what.
5th Gear: Like Another World War II-Era German Leader, Ferdinand Porsche Wasn't Actually Born In Germany
Nope. This week we learned he was actually born in what was then Czechoslovakia. The country didn't exactly want to associate with the guy who had a number of other not-so-savory associates though, so there's been a bit of distance. Go figure.
Reverse: The Lindbergh baby was kidnapped!
On this day in 1932, in a crime that captured the attention of the entire nation, Charles Lindbergh III, the 20-month-old son of aviation hero Charles Lindbergh, is kidnapped from the family's new mansion in Hopewell, New Jersey. Lindbergh, who became an international celebrity when he flew the first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927, and his wife Anne discovered a ransom note demanding $50,000 in their son's empty room.
[HISTORY]
Neutral: How do you feel about continuing a business-oriented roundup for the weekend? Like it? Don't like it? Would you tweak some things, or do you just demand more Classic Ad Watch? Let us know in the comments.
Photo credits: Getty Images
People Are Still Going Nuts Over Tesla