Tesla increases Sweden market share despite labor strike By Reuters

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Tesla (NASDAQ: ) increased its market share in Sweden in 2024, despite a labor dispute targeting the company for nearly a year, car sales data from the Nordic country showed on Tuesday.

Tesla sold 16,478 cars in Sweden in the first nine months of the year, up 1% from the same period in 2023, lifting the carmaker’s market share to 8.5% in 2024 from 7.8% with a year before, according to Mobility Sweden statistics. .

The American group led by billionaire Elon Musk is at the center of a dispute in Sweden over its refusal to sign a collective agreement and thus allow the IF Metall union to negotiate on behalf of workers.

The conflict began when a group of Tesla mechanics went on strike in late October 2023, and more than a dozen unions have since announced sympathetic action, including dockworkers, electricians, maintenance and cleaning crews.

On Monday, the Vision union joined the fray, announcing that up to 40 members of the Gothenburg-based energy company will stop servicing Tesla charging points unless the dispute is resolved by October 10.

Tesla has said it offers conditions as good as or better than those demanded by the union, and the company has found ways to stay in business, including by hiring non-union staff.

While port workers in the Nordic region tried to prevent Tesla from shipping cars to Sweden through their countries, the Swedish transport union said the company got around the blockade by bringing cars in by truck or train.

Musk said in April that he believed the storm had passed for Tesla’s Swedish business, even as industrial action continued.

Neither Tesla nor the IF Metall union immediately responded to requests for comment when contacted by Reuters.