Tesla has filed a lawsuit against the Swedish government's Transport Agency over a workers' strike that has blocked the U.S. auto maker's requests for license plates for new vehicles, business daily Dagens Industri reported on Monday.
The plates are manufactured by the Swedish Transport Agency. They are obliged to deliver the plates through PostNord according to rules set by the government agency Kammarkollegiet (The Swedish Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency). As all agencies in Sweden, they work independently from the government. Therefore Tesla will have to take Kammarkollegiet to the Administrative Court, and if this happens, it will probably be appealed all the way up to the Supreme Administrative Court.
Tesla can collect its license plates from the manufacturer Scandinavian Motorcenter.
If the Swedish Transport Agency does not agree to it within seven days, a fine of one million kroner awaits, Norrköping district court decided on Monday afternoon.
It is true that there has been a decision in which they approve Tesla’s lawsuit, says lawyer Johannes Ericson to Aftonbladet.
Via its Swedish law firm Setterwalls, Tesla submitted two lawsuits on Monday, against the Swedish Transport Agency and PostNord.
In the lawsuit against the Swedish Transport Agency - which was submitted to the Norrköping district court - Tesla also demanded that, on an interim basis, i.e. temporarily, get the registration plates that the Swedish Transport Agency has forbidden the manufacturer Scandinavian Motorcenter to hand out directly to Tesla.
Monday afternoon, the Norrköping District Court granted Tesla’s request:
Yes, it is true that there has been a decision in which they approve Tesla’s lawsuit, says lawyer Johannes Ericson at Setterwall’s law firm.
What do they approve of?
They approve the interim request. They say that the Swedish Transport Agency must give consent for Tesla to pick up the license plates from the manufacturer of license plates.
At a fine of SEK 1 million?
Exactly, that’s right. Within seven days.
What do you think of the decision from the Norrköping District Court?
I have no comments regarding the decision. Tesla will be responsible for any comments regarding the decision, says Ericson.
The plates are manufactured by the Swedish Transport Agency. They are obliged to deliver the plates through PostNord according to rules set by the government agency Kammarkollegiet (The Swedish Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency). As all agencies in Sweden, they work independently from the government. Therefore Tesla will have to take Kammarkollegiet to the Administrative Court, and if this happens, it will probably be appealed all the way up to the Supreme Administrative Court.
This would probably take a couple of years.
It only took a few hours to get the first court instance to rule in Tesla’s favor:
https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/Mo0V85/tesla-far-ut-sina-registreringsskyltar
I fail to see why Transportstyrelsen would have any motivation to appeal the court’s decision. They have no stakes in this game.
This isn’t a verdict in the actual court case though, it’s only temporary.
This won’t necessarily mean that Tesla will get their plates. Because I assume IF Metall has a presence at the number plate factory.
And PostNord are notorious for loosing packages. They should be called BlackHoleNord because that is where objects go to disappear!