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Sweden Mediation Institute throws in the towel on Tesla vs IF Metall union conflict

After nearly two years, the union’s strike has become the country’s longest labor dispute to date.

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Credit: @NicklasNilsso14/X

Sweden’s Mediation Institute has formally ended its efforts to resolve the conflict between Tesla Sweden and trade union IF Metall. After nearly two years, the union’s strike has become the country’s longest labor dispute to date. 

Launched 677 days ago by the IF Metall union, the strike was intended to push Tesla Sweden into signing a collective agreement. Tesla Sweden, however, remained firm, maintaining that its working conditions are already better than union standards.

Mediation Institute withdraws

The state-run Mediation Institute, which had been involved early in the strike, confirmed this week that it was officially closing the case. The two parties have had several meetings, but neither side has been able to come to an agreement.

Director General Irene Wennemo described the effort as unprecedented in difficulty in a comment to Ekot. “We have tried in every possible way to get the parties to come closer to each other in a way that allows this conflict to end. But now we have come to the end of the road and have realized that it is just as good to end the case,” she told the Swedish outlet.

Union signals flexibility

The mediators noted in their final report that Tesla Sweden had limited authority in the talks, with key decisions appearing to rest with executives in the United States. The situation, they stated, created barriers to compromise that made the conflict “unlike anything else.” Tesla has maintained throughout that its Swedish workers already receive strong benefits and protections without the need for a formal collective agreement, as noted in a CarUp report.

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IF Metall, for its part, has begun hinting that it was open to alternatives. This was highlighted by Union Chair Marie Nilsson, who noted that while the preferred outcome of the country’s longest strike in history is a signed agreement, “other alternative solutions” are now on the table. “You can do it in different ways. The easiest thing would be to sign a collective agreement. But when that is not possible, we have to find other alternative solutions as well, so we are open to discussion,” the union official stated.

Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Investor's Corner

Tesla gets another new price target as recent events ‘remove large overhang’

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) got another new price target this week after one firm said that recent events “have removed a large overhang on the stock.”

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) got another new price target this week after one firm said that recent events “have removed a large overhang on the stock.”

This year, Tesla has had an up-and-down performance on Wall Street, but gains over the past month have overshadowed much of the skepticism and pressure on the stock.

However, over the past 30 days, a lot of good things have happened: Tesla has shown it has a lot of demand for its vehicles, which will likely translate to good delivery figures, it figured out a compensation plan for CEO Elon Musk, and the company’s clear focus on Robotaxi and Optimus puts it in a good position for the future as the focus comes off of quarterly deliveries.

Tesla board reveals reasoning for CEO Elon Musk’s new $1 trillion pay package

Deutsche Bank recognized these potential catalysts and wrote in a note to investors:

“Ahead of 3Q25 deliveries next week, we raise our near-term estimates given stronger volume in the quarter, but keep our full-year and 2026 outlook mostly unchanged. We think Elon Musk’s clear focus on Tesla’s most important efforts (Robotaxi and Optimus) and the recent compensation package have removed a large overhang on the stock going forward, will allow Tesla to benefit from being a leader in embodied AI.”

These points specifically pushed Deutsche Bank’s reasoning for pushing its price target to $435 from $345.

In terms of quarterly deliveries, the firm expects Tesla to report 461,500 for the quarter. “We expect +20% growth in China and N. America, with some decline in Europe as competition and branding continue to weigh in on demand,” Deutsche Bank said.

Wall Street firm makes shock move for Tesla Q3 delivery prediction

Overall, IR-compiled consensus estimates put deliveries at 443,100:

Tesla received other price target boosts this week, including one from Wedbush’s Dan Ives, who bumped his outlook on the stock from $500 to a Street-high $600.

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Elon Musk gives update on Tesla Optimus progress

Tesla is “working hard” to get Optimus production scaled, Elon Musk said.

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Credit: Tesla

Elon Musk says Tesla is working hard to scale what will end up being its biggest product in his eyes: Optimus.

Tesla Optimus is the company’s humanoid robot project, which was first announced several years ago but has gained more relevance and become a larger focus over the past year.

Tesla truly had its big breakout with Optimus last year at its “We, Robot” event in October, where it was used to serve drinks, provide entertainment, and mingle with attendees.

Tesla’s next-gen Optimus prototype with Grok revealed

However, it has been a challenge for Tesla to truly scale Optimus and, although it has huge plans for production numbers, certain parts of the project have proven to be more difficult than others.

One of the most notable things is that of its hands, as Tesla wants them to be nimble enough to thread a needle.

This has proven to be very difficult.

Scaling production and refining manufacturing are also likely challenges. Musk says Tesla is “working hard on scaling Optimus,” something that is a crucial issue to solve as the project is a major contributor to the company’s future.

Musk said:

Musk has made some pretty tremendous predictions for Optimus and how important it could be to Tesla in the future.

Earlier this month, he said Optimus will make up about 80 percent of the company’s value in the future. In January, he also noted during Tesla’s Q4 2024 Earnings Call that Optimus would be “overwhelmingly the value of the company.”

Elon Musk details Tesla’s road to selling Optimus and Robotaxi affordably

He has not only talked about Optimus’s importance in terms of money and revenue. He also said it would be “the biggest product of all-time by far,” because of its ability to revolutionize human life. He said it would be like “having your own personal C-3PO and R2-D2.”

Summary Table of Estimations

Aspect
Musk’s Estimation
Date/Context
Implication for Tesla
Valuation Share
~80% of total company value
Sep 2025 X post; Jan 2025 earnings
Shifts focus from EVs to robotics as primary growth engine
Overall Valuation
Up to $25 trillion (Optimus-driven)
Mid-2024 interview
~34x current cap; exceeds U.S. GDP equivalent in profits
Market Size
>10 billion units globally
Aug 2024 interview
Universal adoption for labor/personal use
Product Ranking
Biggest product ever; > FSD value
Mar 2025 statement; Apr 2022
Transforms Tesla into AI/robotics leader
Unit Price
~$20,000 (high-volume target)
Nov 2024 X post
Enables affordability for billions of users
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Elon Musk

Tesla pleads with Trump White House not to bail on crucial climate standards

It suggested that abandoning the standards “would give a pass to engine and vehicle manufacturers for all measurement, control, and reporting of GHG emissions for any highway engine and vehicle.”

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President Donald J. Trump purchases a Tesla on the South Lawn, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley)
Credit: Tesla

Tesla pleaded with the Trump White House not to bail on crucial climate standards that would help keep vehicle emissions in check, warning of human dangers related to greenhouse gases.

Tesla wrote that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recent proposal to roll back standards for tailpipe emissions would be a major setback in the fight to limit damage to the climate.

It suggested that abandoning the standards “would give a pass to engine and vehicle manufacturers for all measurement, control, and reporting of GHG emissions for any highway engine and vehicle,” Reuters said in its report.

Trump has been a critic of environmental standards, and earlier this week, during a speech with the U.N., said that climate change was “the greatest con-job ever perpetrated on the world, in my opinion.”

Tesla’s tone on the potential rollback of climate standards was countered by that of General Motors, Toyota, Volkswagen, and “nearly all other major automakers,” who requested the EPA delay the emissions goals.

Tesla stands to gain a lot from the emissions push. Other automakers simply cannot compete with Tesla’s tech, charging infrastructure, or self-driving program, and they have a significant advantage as they started developing EV tech more than a decade ago.

Legacy automakers, on the other hand, have continued to develop EVs, but have not managed to manufacture anything of extreme interest to most car buyers.

Individually, they have not dented Tesla’s market share in the U.S., but collectively, because of more offerings and improvements to their lineups, they have managed to take some of Tesla’s sales away.

It’s taken all of them to truly compete with Tesla in the big picture. However, the other companies still need to rely on combustion engine vehicles, at least in the short term, to generate revenue.

Since these companies are not meeting emissions targets, they are required to pay Tesla for compliance credits, which the company generated $2.8 billion in revenue from last year.

GM to pay $145.8 million fee for excess emissions

Tesla said in its letter that the EPA’s consideration of rolling back standards is destructive to the innovation of the automotive industry:

“[It] undermines the stability of this program, diminishes the value of performance-based incentives that electric vehicle manufacturers accrue under the standards, and creates an uneven playing field – reducing the inducement for investment in vehicle innovation.”

With President Trump’s skepticism on the issue of vehicle emissions, things don’t look like they will go in Tesla’s favor with this particular request.

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