Elon Musk forces eco-conscious Scandinavians to choose between EVs, unions

Elon Musk’s abrasive way of doing business may be hurting Tesla Inc. in a region that has embraced electric cars more enthusiastically than anywhere else.

A small walk-out at Tesla’s seven repair shops in Sweden over unfair working conditions has in the past month spiralled into a storm of labor strikes and blockades among the manufacturers’ service providers, and this week, the conflict spread to neighboring Denmark and Norway.

While Musk has called the dispute “insane,” his refusal to negotiate runs the risk of denting sales in the Nordic countries, where eco-conscious and well-to-do buyers have helped facilitate the consumer shift to cleaner cars.