George Blankenship, Tesla's retail leader retires

Marketing executive George Blankenship has resigned from his post at US automaker Tesla Motors to spend time with grandchildren, he said. Blankenship, whose previous work included stints at Apple and the Gap, apparently left the company without public fanfare a few weeks ago, the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News reported Saturday. His LinkedIn profile says he is now "Director of Smiles for the Blankenship Family." It also says, "November 2012: done at Tesla." Blankenship was officially the vice president of sales and ownership experience at Tesla. In recent months, he focused on Tesla's showroom expansions in Europe and Asia, the newspaper said.