Volkswagen Navarra keeps moving majority of cars on trains
The Volkswagen plant in Navarra, Spain, has been on a quest to make rail freight its main mode of transport. Last year, the company set a new record by moving 52.1% of its vehicles by train after a step back in 2024.
The results posted in 2025 are Volkswagen Navarra’s best in the past three years: in 2023, 51.9% of the products travelled by rail, while in 2024 it was 46.6%, the company specified. In absolute terms, 117,394 of the 225,134 produced in total in Navarra were loaded on freight trains, while the remaining 107,740 took the truck.
The role of rail freight for the Navarra plant has significantly increased over the past 15 years, from 29% in 2010 to the current 52.1%. The plan is to then further increase the modal shift of rail to 80% “over the next few years”, the company said on LinkedIn. Increasing the use of freight trains is part of Volkswagen’s ‘goTOzero Impact Logistics’ initiative, which aims at cutting emissions.
Confirmed trends
The continuous ascent of rail freight of Volkswagen Navarra was the only trend that was confirmed. The main rail destination, by far, was the port of Barcelona with 57% (66,917 units). The port of Santander came second with 26% (30,406 units), while Germany was third with 7.3% (8,587 units). These three destinations have been leading for quite some time, with slightly fluctuating percentages.
