Purpose. The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding of the challenges and conflicts insustainable supply chain management through empirical evidence from the heavy-vehicleindustry in Sweden and China.

Design/methodology/approach. The theoretical background is based on the literature on sustainable supply chainmanagement in general and in the automotive and logistics industries in particular. An explorative study of the case company’s supply chain operating in two countries isconducted for this paper. The major components of the empirical data are interviews withthe company´s representatives and its downstream supply chain members in Sweden andChina, as well as a workshop with the logistics industry’s representatives in China.

Findings. The challenges are perceived on the regulatory and organizational levels. The conflicts canbe found between several stakeholder groups but the main focus seems to be onenvironmental and economic aspects. Life-cycle solutions for the vehicles utilization arevaluable but there are challenges to employing them, especially in the Chinese context.The results show that intensified international collaboration on environment and trafficsafety can help tackle challenges and ease the conflicts in sustainable supply chainmanagement.

Research limitations/implications. The research is limited to two countries and a downstream supply chain of the company.This comparative study may bring understanding of the possible challenges and conflictswithin sustainable supply chain management in the industry context on the internationallevel.

Practical implications. Policy makers both in the heavy-vehicle and automotive industries could use the empirical findings of the study for better understanding and managing conflicts and challenges in sustainable supply chain management. The managers of the companies or the business partners could use the results of this study as an illustration of possible conflicts and challenges while managing supply chains in a sustainable way, also applying these issues in the international context since the study is looking at both Swedish and Chinese markets.

Social implications. The use of more sustainable solutions that include life-cycle costs and are sensitive to some of the inherent conflicts between environmental, economic and social goals will also have an impact at the societal level and lead to more sustainable transport systems.

Original/value. The paper contributes to the research within sustainable supply chains in the heavy-vehicle industry with a focus on the downstream supply chain of the case company in Sweden and China as two extreme examples of SSCM implementation. Keywords: Sustainable supply chain management, conflicts and challenges, automotive industry, heavy vehicle industry, transportation