BAIC Foton and 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 Friedrichshafen once again delivered tangible results — the first AxTrax 2 electric drive axle produced at the two companies' joint venture plant was officially rolled off the line in Jiaxing. The milestone signals that BAIC Foton has secured a key voice in the core-component segment of new energy commercial vehicles, achieving a critical leap from strategic layout to on-the-ground implementation. The ceremony was attended by 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, Party Committee Secretary and General Manager of BAIC Foton; Cui Shipeng, Deputy General Manager of BAIC Foton and Chairman ofZF-Foton; Andreas Moser, Member of the Management Board of ZF Group and Head of the Commercial Vehicle Solutions and Industrial Technology Divisions, along with hundreds of guests from government, both shareholder parties, partners, and the media, who together witnessed this historic moment.

01 Adapting to Industry Transformation, Strategic Layout Yields Results

The global automotive industry is undergoing once-in-a-century transformation, with electrification and intelligentization sweeping the world. 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 projected to reach 50% by 2030 and L2+ level intelligent driving adoption reaching 30%. At the same time, geopolitical competition is reshaping the global energy supply chain, and energy self-sufficiency has become a strategic priority for nations, accelerating the commercial vehicle industry's shift from fuel-driven to electric-driven powertrains.

Based on a deep insight into these industry trends, BAIC Foton and ZF signed a strategic agreement in April 2023, introducing ZF's latest electric drive technology to China for the first time and localizing production in Jiaxing. After three years of careful construction and preparation, the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle was officially launched at the joint venture plant, marking the realization of this strategic blueprint.

As ZF's integrated electric drive axle platform designed for next-generation commercial vehicles, AxTrax 2 can be applied to medium- and heavy-duty trucks. Its modular design replaces the engine, transmission, driveshaft, differential, and conventional axle, enabling the electrification of commercial vehicles. The product that rolled off the line features a silicon carbide inverter on a high-voltage 930V platform, delivering continuous output power of 210 kW and peak torque of 26,000 N·m. Equipped with a 3-speed transmission and electronic shift actuator, its compact design maximizes available space for battery placement while fully synchronizing with the vehicle's braking, ADAS, and autonomous driving systems — providing an efficient and intelligent system solution for the electrification 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 deepened continuously. To date, the BAIC Foton–ZF transmission joint venture plant has achieved cumulative sales of 20 billion yuan. With advanced production systems and intelligent equipment, the Jiaxing base is becoming ZF's key manufacturing, R&D, and functional headquarters in the Asia-Pacific region. The official launch of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle represents a critical step in extending the partnership from traditional transmissions into the electric drive domain.

In his address, Lu Zhenghua expressed heartfelt gratitude to the Jiaxing Municipal Party Committee, the municipal government, the Economic Development Zone, and relevant departments for their long-standing care and support for the BAIC Foton–ZF transmission joint venture. He also paid 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 joint venture's future development:

First, continue to lead with technology by fully leveraging ZF's global technology advantages and BAIC Foton's vehicle-application scenario strengths, accelerating the efficient conversion of electric drive axle technology from reserves into commercial deliveries.

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

Third, advance localization and cost reduction with efficiency gains by relying on the resilience and scale advantages of China's domestic industrial chain, accelerating component localization, and delivering electric drive axles of global quality with better cost-performance to customers — helping new energy commercial vehicles shift from "policy-driven" to "market-driven" at a faster pace.

03 Anchored on the "15th Five-Year Plan," Driving the Green Transformation of Commercial Vehicles

Standing at the critical starting point of the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the mass production launch of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle is another important achievement in BAIC Foton's push 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 a reshaping of the global landscape, BAIC Foton is using key technologies as levers to build a vertically integrated synergy advantage 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. Going forward, the BAIC Foton–ZF transmission joint venture plant will continue to drive a cost revolution through technological innovation and unlock efficiency through lean management, pushing new energy commercial vehicles into a new stage of market-driven growth.