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

On June 22, the strategic partnership between BAIC Foton and ZF produced another milestone result — the first AxTrax 2 electric drive axle from the two companies' joint-venture plant officially rolled off the line in Jiaxing. The event marks BAIC Foton's acquisition of a key voice in the field of core new-energy components for commercial vehicles and a decisive leap from strategic planning to real-world implementation.

Chapter Lan, Secretary of the Party Working Committee and Director of the Management Committee of 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; and Andreas Moser, Member of the ZF Group Board of Management and Head of Commercial Vehicle Solutions and Industrial Technology, joined several hundred guests from government, both shareholder parties, partners and the media to witness this milestone moment.

01 Responding to Industry Transformation: Strategy Delivers Results

The automotive industry is currently undergoing a once-in-a-century transformation, with the waves of electrification and intelligence sweeping the globe. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, China's domestic commercial-vehicle market is expected to stabilize at around 3.2 million units, with the new-energy penetration rate forecast to reach 50% by 2030 and L2+ intelligent driving in commercial vehicles to reach 30%. At the same time, geopolitical competition is reshaping the global energy supply chain, and energy independence has been elevated to a strategic priority for nations, forcing the commercial-vehicle industry to accelerate its shift from fuel-driven to electric-driven powertrains.

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

As ZF's integrated electric drive axle platform developed for next-generation commercial vehicles, the AxTrax 2 can be applied to medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. Its modular design replaces the engine, transmission, propeller shaft, differential and conventional axle, enabling the electrification of commercial vehicles. The product launched this time is equipped with a silicon-carbide inverter on a 930V platform, delivering continuous output of 210 kW and peak torque of 26,000 N·m. It features a 3-speed transmission and an electronic shift actuator. While its compact design maximizes available space for battery packaging, it achieves 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 The Jiaxing Base Keeps Empowering: Joint Venture Reaches a New Level

Since BAIC Foton and ZF established their joint venture in Jiaxing in 2017, the cooperation between the two sides has continued to deepen. To date, the BAIC Foton–ZF transmission joint-venture plant has achieved cumulative sales of RMB 20 billion. 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 conventional transmissions into the electric drive domain.

In his address, Lu Zhenghua expressed heartfelt thanks 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 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 difficulties. He stated that the launch of the new product is only the first step of a long march, 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-application scenario advantages, and accelerate the efficient conversion of the electric drive axle from technology reserve to commercial delivery.

Second, deepen customer value by focusing on core scenarios such as trunk-line logistics and regional transportation, and accelerate the value conversion of the product from "roll-off and delivery" to "customer profitability."

Third, advance localization, cost reduction and efficiency gains by relying on the resilience and scale advantages of China's domestic industrial chain, accelerating the localization of components so that electric drive axles of global quality benefit customers with better cost-performance, and helping new-energy commercial vehicles accelerate their shift from "policy-driven" to "market-driven."

03 Anchored on the 15th Five-Year Plan: Supporting the Green Transition of Commercial Vehicles

Standing at the critical starting point of the 15th Five-Year Plan, the mass-production launch of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle is another important achievement in BAIC Foton's pursuit of its three major strategies: "comprehensive internationalization, comprehensive new-energy transformation and comprehensive intelligentization." Facing industry trends of deep integration between electrification and intelligence and the restructuring of the global landscape, BAIC Foton is using key technologies as a lever to build vertically integrated synergy advantages in core components such as batteries, electric drives and electronic controls.

The official production launch 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 localization of electric drive technology in China's commercial-vehicle industry. Looking ahead, the BAIC Foton–ZF transmission joint-venture plant will continue to use technological innovation to drive a cost revolution and lean management to unlock efficiency, pushing new-energy commercial vehicles to accelerate into a new stage driven by the market.