IKEA plans zero-emission home deliveries in five major cities by 2020

IKEA Group, the owner of most IKEA stores worldwide, said on Friday all its home deliveries in the inner cities of Amsterdam, Los Angeles, New York, Paris and Shanghai would be made by electric vehicles or through other zero-emission means by 2020.

The world's biggest furniture retailer said in a statement that that would mean 25 percent of its home deliveries would be zero-emission by 2020. The company has a target for all its last-mile deliveries to be by electric vehicles (EV) or other zero-emission means by 2025.

"For us it's crucial to grow our business in a sustainable way - that's why we're speeding up the transition to EV in five inner city areas," IKEA Group CEO Jesper Brodin said in the statement.

IKEA Group is the largest franchisee to brand owner Inter IKEA, with 366 stores in 30 markets. (Reporting by Anna Ringstrom; Editing by Jan Harvey)