Tesla blacklisted in Sweden but breakthrough on autonomous driving in the US and China

A few hours earlier, a long-awaited signal arrived from China. Beijing published the first guidelines for the export of vehicle-generated data, until now the unresolved node for the launch of the supervised autonomous driving system - or advanced level assisted driving - Full Self-Driving (FSD). Tesla had started limited tests in the country, but the lack of clear rules blocked their extension. The new rules now open a concrete window for the release of the software in the world's leading electric car market.

The Chinese authorities have in fact published draft guidelines clarifying for the first time how data generated by cars (including that needed to develop and optimise advanced autonomous driving systems such as Tesla's Full Self-Driving) can be transferred abroad, with some exemptions for companies in free trade zones. This represents a potential green light for the wider use of FSD functions in China, the world's largest car market, and resolves one of the main regulatory hurdles holding Tesla back: the ability to transfer data collected from the Chinese fleet to the US to improve autonomous driving algorithms.

But while Washington and Beijing seem to be boosting the electric car manufacturer's chances, in Europe - where Tesla has been suffering on the sales front for months in response to Musk's political stances - the timeframe seems to be getting longer. The carmaker revealed late last year that it intended to bring full self-driving to the Old Continent in the course of 2025. It seems, however, that European bureaucracy is putting more than one obstacle in the way and stretching the timeframe. In a post on (his) social platform X on Wednesday, Musk stated that the company is still waiting for the green light from the Dutch government and Brussels.

Finally, ethical judgement prevails in Sweden. The AP7 fund announced that it had sold its entire stake in Tesla, placing the stock on its blacklist for 'proven violations of trade union rights in the United States'. 'After years of dialogue,' the note reads, 'the company has failed to take appropriate action'. The divested stake amounted to 1 per cent of the fund's equity portfolio.

The divestment follows that of insurer Folksam, which had already exited the stock in April. Tesla has been embroiled in a bitter clash with Swedish trade unions for more than a year, and sales in the country have plummeted 74% in the first five months of the year, although this translates into negligible volumes: from 12,600 to 3,200 units (Tesla sold 1.79 million cars in 2024, down 1.1%, but the decline is much sharper during 2025, especially in Europe: sales targets are difficult to achieve with current trends).

But what matters most for Tesla today is the regulatory breakthrough in the US and China. For investors, that is where the future of the company really lies.