Between Chinese car crashes, Canadian carmakers, European hackers and Japanese EVs, multinationalism is alive and well in today’s Daily Drive-Thru.  Before we go overseas, let’s go to Northern California, where Tesla is making setting up shop for, believe it or not, the first time in San Francisco.  Don’t even think of leaving for the weekend before reading this Friday edition of the Daily Drive-Thru.  Tesla Motors has never been one to follow standard business practices, so it should come as no surprise that it’s taken 13 years for the tech-startup-turned-automaker to set up a flagship store in the heart of the Bay Area. Today Tesla will open its first store in San Francisco, where it will showcase its Model X and S vehicles as well as its Powerwall home batteries.  Tesla’s business model is to own its stores directly rather than selling through dealerships, so the San Francisco store will, much like its peers, be a glorified showroom for products that will be ordered online. However, the 65,000 square foot space will come as close as to a traditional dealership as any space Tesla has occupied to date: it’s the largest in North America (second only to Oslo, worldwide) and the Van Ness Avenue building once housed a Chevrolet dealership on the city’s historic Auto Row.  Formed in San Carlos, California in 2003, Tesla’s Bay Area roots run deep: its current headquarters are in Palo Alto and its factory is across Bay in Fremont. In addition to the Model X and Model S, Tesla plan on using its new store to show off its forthcoming Model 3 sedan and the solar panels borne of its recent partnership with fellow Bay Area startup SolarCity.  Source: The San Francisco Chronicle  In other Tesla news, yet another one of its customers is claiming the company’s semi-autonomous driving system is at fault for a recent crash. The latest installment of Autopilots Gone Wild comes from Beijing, where 33-year-old programmer Luo Zhen says the system caused his Model S to sideswipe a car that was parked partially in a roadway. This is the first publicized Autopilot crash in China, a crucial market for Tesla both because of its size and because of the country’s increasingly strict emissions standards.  Like the various U.S. Autopilot crashes, Tesla is pointing the finger right back at the driver, saying it was on Luo to stay vigilant and avoid the crash. Tesla’s records show that Luo did not have his hands on the wheel at the time of the crash. Luo, however, contends that the vehicle was sold to him as a “self-diving” car, with a sales associate taking his hands off the wheel at one point during the test drive.  European researchers have found that as many as 100 million keyless entry vehicles sold by Volkswagen AG are vulnerable to being hacked by cheap technical devices. Computer security experts at the U.K.’s University of Birmingham were able to duplicate keyless entry controls by simply eavesdropping on unsuspecting drivers as they pressed their key fobs to unlock their car doors.  The hack can be used on Volkswagen, Audi, Seat and Skoda models dating back to 1995. The only vehicles not subject to this weakness are those made on Volkswagen’s latest modular platform. A Volkswagen’s spokesman told Automotive News that current models of the Golf, Tiguan, Touran and Passat are not vulnerable to the hack.  Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles began collective bargaining negotiations with the Canadian autoworkers union this week, setting the table for what could be 40-day power struggle as workers hope to wrestle back jobs that have migrated southward. This is the first time the Detroit Three have negotiated with Unifor, which formed in 2013 when the Canadian Auto Workers and Communications, Energy and Paperworkers unions joined forces.  Both General Motors and FCA have deals in place with the Canadian government to increase their focus on autonomous driving research and development in the country in the coming years, but the future of Canadian car-building remains dubious as automakers from the U.S. and elsewhere shift their manufacturing efforts to southern states and Mexico where taxes are low and labor is cheap.  The union and automakers will try to hash out a deal for Canada’s 23,000 auto workers before their current contract expires on September 19 to avoid a potential strike/lockout.  Popular as the brand is with environmentally-conscious outdoorsmen and –women, it’s somewhat surprising that Subaru hasn’t so much as gotten its minimalist shoe-covered feet wet in the electric vehicle waterway. Sure, it’s got the Crosstrek Hybrid, but c’mon Subaru, where’s the plug-in battery? Well, according to some reports, it’s on its way.  Subaru won’t officially confirm, but the word is that the Japanese automaker will have a plug-in hybrid electric compact utility vehicle by 2021. This midsize SUV would likely be based on either the Forester or Outback. As Autoblog astutely points out, if Subaru is going electric, it’s likely for the same reason that many of its contemporaries are: to meet fleet-wide emissions standards.  Whatever the reason, should Subaru create an all-electric or plug-in electric vehicle, it would surely please hikers, bikers and all other nature enthusiasts who would be able to make it outside their respective metropolitan areas without burning so much as a drop of gas.  Source: Automotive News via Autoblog  Check the Daily Drive-Thru every weekday morning to get the latest on the most important news and trends in the automotive world.  You can find Thursday’s installment of the Drive-Thru here and view the rest of our archives here.  Got a news tip or a comment? You can find me on Twitter where I go by @ByKyleCampbell or email me at kcampbell@nydailynews.com.  Did you find this article helpful? If so, please share it using the "Join the Conversation" buttons below, and thank you for visiting Daily News Autos.
Plus, trouble for Volkswagen that isn't about emissions, collective bargaining kicks off in Canada, and more in today's Daily Drive-Thru.