Volvo Cars Carries New Cars by Train Instead of Trucks

Volvo Cars aims to significantly reduce CO2 emissions in its logistics operations by switching the mode of transport between its production facilities and new car warehouses from trucks to trains.

The company is in the process of reducing emissions further, especially in Europe, where truck transport is still widely used to move new cars to distribution warehouses and dealerships, day by day.

For example, the preference of rail transport on the road between the Ghent-based production facility in Belgium and a purpose-built warehouse in northern Italy has reduced CO2 emissions by almost 75 percent. Emissions have been reduced by almost half, as a result of rail transport on another route from Ghent to a second warehouse in Austria.

Under the plan, the company aims to reduce its life cycle carbon footprint per car by 2018 percent between 2025 and 40. This target requires a 25 percent reduction in all operational emissions, including logistics. The 2025 plan represents a concrete step towards Volvo Cars' goal of becoming a climate-neutral company by 2040.

Volvo Cars also wants to use rail transport on a larger scale in China and the United States. Currently, cars are transported from China-based production facilities to the Ghent port in Belgium twice a week by train. Other train connections take the new Volvo cars to regional warehouses in China and Russia.

In the USA, the company's South Carolina, Charleston-based production facility transports new cars to a warehouse located in cities in North America through a well-established rail freight network. These trains are already carrying the equivalent load of dozens of trucks per week. This figure is expected to increase further after the next generation XC90 goes into production.

“We were really serious when we said that we plan to significantly reduce emissions from all our operations,” said Javier Varela, Senior Vice President, Volvo Cars Manufacturing and Logistics. Our logistics network is just one piece, but an important one, of this puzzle. This practice is an example for our promises to reduce our impact on the environment in meaningful and decisive steps. ”