BAIC Foton and ZF Strategic Partnership Bears New Fruit: First AxTrax 2 Electric Drive Axle Rolls Off the Production Line

On June 22, the strategic partnership between BAIC Foton and ZF Friedrichshafen bore new fruit — the first AxTrax 2 electric drive axle rolled off the production line at the two companies' joint-venture plant in Jiaxing. This milestone marks BAIC Foton's acquisition of a key voice in the core new-energy components sector for commercial vehicles, representing a critical leap from strategic positioning to tangible execution. Zhang Lan, Secretary of the Party Working Committee and Director of the Management Committee of the Jiaxing Economic and Technological Development Zone; Chang Rui, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and General Manager of BAIC Group and Chairman of BAIC Foton; Lu Zhenghua, Secretary of the Party Committee and General Manager of BAIC Foton; Cui Shipeng, Deputy General Manager of BAIC Foton and Chairman of ZF-Foton; Andreas Moser, Member of the ZF Group Board of Directors and Head of the Commercial Vehicle Solutions and Industrial Technology Divisions; together with hundreds of guests from government, both shareholder parties, partners and the media, gathered to witness this landmark moment.

01 Adapting to Industry Transformation, Strategic Positioning Yields Fruit

Today, the automotive industry is experiencing a once-in-a-century transformation, with electrification and intelligentization sweeping the globe. During China's "15th Five-Year Plan" period, the domestic commercial vehicle market is expected to stabilize at around 3.2 million units, with new energy penetration projected to reach 50% by 2030 and L2+ intelligent driving in commercial vehicles reaching 30%. At the same time, geopolitical competition is reshaping the global energy supply chain, and energy self-sufficiency has been elevated to a strategic priority for nations, compelling the commercial vehicle industry to accelerate its transition from fuel-driven to electric-driven powertrains.

Driven by a profound understanding of these industry trends, in April 2023 BAIC Foton and ZF signed a strategic agreement to introduce ZF's latest electric drive technology to China for the first time, with production based in Jiaxing. After three years of careful construction and preparation, the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle has officially rolled off the line at the joint-venture plant, marking the transformation of this strategic blueprint into reality.

As ZF's integrated electric drive axle platform designed for next-generation commercial vehicles, the AxTrax 2 can be applied to medium and heavy-duty vehicles. Its modular design replaces the engine, transmission, driveshaft, differential and conventional axle to achieve the electrification of commercial vehicles. The product rolled off the line this time is equipped with a silicon carbide inverter on a platform of up to 930V, delivering a continuous output power of 210 kW and a peak torque of 26,000 N·m. With a 3-speed transmission and electronic gear-shift actuator, its compact design maximizes battery packaging space while achieving full synchronization with the vehicle's braking, ADAS and autonomous driving systems — providing an efficient, intelligent system solution for the electrification transition of commercial vehicles.

02 Jiaxing Base Continues to Empower, Joint Venture Reaches New Heights

Since BAIC Foton and ZF established their joint venture in Jiaxing in 2017, cooperation between the two sides has been continuously deepened. To date, the BAIC Foton–ZF transmission joint-venture plant has achieved cumulative sales of 20 billion RMB. With advanced production systems and intelligent equipment, the Jiaxing base is becoming an important manufacturing, R&D and functional headquarters for ZF in the Asia-Pacific region. The official roll-off of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle is a key step in extending the partnership from the traditional transmission field into the electric drive domain.

In his address, Mr. Lu Zhenghua expressed sincere gratitude to the Jiaxing Municipal Party Committee, the municipal government, the Economic and Technological Development Zone and relevant departments for their long-standing care and support for the development of the BAIC Foton–ZF transmission joint-venture plant, and paid high tribute to the project team and all employees who worked day and night to overcome challenges. He stated that the launch of the new product is only the first step of a long journey, and put forward three expectations for the future development of the joint venture:

First, sustain technological leadership by fully leveraging ZF's global technology strengths and BAIC Foton's vehicle-scenario advantages, accelerating the efficient conversion of electric drive axles from technology reserves to commercial delivery;

Second, deepen customer value by focusing on core scenarios such as trunk logistics and regional transportation, accelerating the value conversion from "roll-off and delivery" to "customer profitability";

Third, advance localization and cost reduction with efficiency gains, relying on the resilience and scale advantages of the domestic industrial chain to accelerate component localization, so that world-class electric drive axles can benefit customers with better cost-performance, helping new-energy commercial vehicles accelerate their transition from "policy-driven" to "market-driven."

03 Anchored to the "15th Five-Year Plan", Supporting the Green Transition of Commercial Vehicles

Standing at the critical juncture of the opening year of China's "15th Five-Year Plan," the mass-production roll-off of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle is another important achievement in BAIC Foton's advancement of its three major strategies: "comprehensive internationalization, comprehensive new-energy transition, and comprehensive intelligentization." Facing industry trends of deep integration between electrification and intelligentization, and the restructuring of the global landscape, BAIC Foton is leveraging key technologies to build a vertically integrated synergy advantage across core components such as batteries, electric drives and electronic controls.

The official commissioning of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle not only provides strong technical support for BAIC Foton's new-energy commercial vehicles, but also sets a benchmark for the localized development of electric drive technology in China's commercial vehicle industry. Going forward, the BAIC Foton–ZF transmission joint-venture plant will continue to drive a cost revolution through technological innovation, unlock efficiency through lean management, and push new-energy commercial vehicles toward a new stage of market-driven growth.