How Can the Nordic Automotive Aftermarket Provide Opportunities Counteracting the Challenges of Disadvantaged Entrepreneurs?

This chapter explores how the automotive aftermarket could provide potential opportunities for the challenges refugee and immigrant entrepreneurs face in the Nordic countries. As the automotive industry has a vast societal impact, including geographical, economical, and employment effects, the aim of this paper is to explore the Automotive Aftermarket (AA) as a potential gateway for disadvantaged newcomers, e.g., refugees and immigrants in the Nordics, to become entrepreneurs and reach prosperity. Through qualitative research it is shown that the automotive aftermarket industry has excellent market conditions for disadvantaged entrepreneurs through low entry barriers and increasing demand side. The industry is also characterised by strong network influences, while its institutional infrastructure might be difficult to navigate. Additionally, this paper also found that language has a central piece in overcoming refugee entrepreneurs’ challenges in social integration. In summary, the paper concludes that raising awareness of the opportunities the automotive aftermarket provides in the Nordics could be beneficial both for the industry’s social impact and newcomers who wish to contribute to the development of the entrepreneurial landscape of AA.