Tesla raises Sweden market share despite labour strike
6:30 am Tuesday, October 01st, 2024
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Tesla has increased its market share in Sweden in 2024 despite a labour conflict targeting the company for almost 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, an increase of 1% from the same period of 2023, lifting the automaker’s overall market share to 8.5% in 2024 from 7.8% a year prior, according to Mobility Sweden statistics.
The U.S. group headed by billionaire Elon Musk is at the centre of a dispute in Sweden over its refusal to sign a collective bargaining agreement and thus allow labour union IF Metall to negotiate on behalf of workers.
The conflict began when a group of Tesla mechanics went on strike in late October of 2023, and more than a dozen unions have since announced sympathy actions, including dockworkers, electricians, maintenance crews and cleaners.
On Monday, labour union Vision joined the fray, announcing that up to 40 members at the city of Gothenburg’s power company will stop servicing Tesla charging points unless the conflict is resolved by Oct. 10.
Tesla has said it offers as good, or better, terms than those demanded by the union, and the company has found ways to stay in operation, including by employing non-union staff.
While dockworkers across the Nordic region have sought to prevent Tesla from transporting cars to Sweden via their countries, the Swedish transport union has said the company has bypassed its blockade by bringing cars in on trucks or by train.
Musk in April said he believed the storm had passed for Tesla’s Swedish business even as the labour union action continued.
Neither Tesla nor IF Metall union immediately responded to requests for comment when contacted by Reuters.
(Reporting by Marie Mannes and Terje Solsvik, Editing by Louise Heavens)
