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 (ZF Friedrichshafen) yielded another milestone — the first AxTrax 2 electric drive axle produced by their joint-venture plant officially rolled off the line in Jiaxing, signaling that BAIC Foton has gained a key voice in the field of new energy core components for commercial vehicles and completed a crucial leap from strategic layout to practical implementation. Zhang 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; Andreas Moser, Member of the ZF Group Board of Management and Head of the Commercial Vehicle Solutions and Industrial Technology Divisions, along with hundreds of guests from government, both shareholders, partners, and the media, gathered together to witness this milestone moment.

01. Aligned with Industry Transformation, Strategic Layout Bears Fruit

The automotive industry is currently experiencing once-in-a-century transformation, with the waves of electrification and intelligence sweeping across the globe. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the domestic commercial vehicle market is expected to remain stable at around 3.2 million units, with the new energy penetration rate projected to reach 50% by 2030 and L2+ intelligent driving adoption in commercial vehicles reaching 30%. Meanwhile, geopolitical competition is reshaping the global energy supply chain, and energy self-sufficiency has become a strategic priority for nations worldwide, accelerating the commercial vehicle industry's shift from fuel-driven to electric-drive powertrains.

Based on a profound insight into 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 localized 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, turning this strategic blueprint into reality.

As ZF's integrated electric drive axle platform designed for the next generation of commercial vehicles, the AxTrax 2 can be applied to medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, using modular design to replace the engine, transmission, drive shaft, differential, and conventional axle to achieve commercial vehicle electrification. The product launched this time features a silicon carbide inverter on a platform of up to 930V, with continuous output power reaching 210 kW and peak torque of 26,000 N·m. Equipped with a 3-speed transmission and electronic shift actuator, its compact design maximizes battery packaging space while fully synchronizing with the vehicle's braking, ADAS, and autonomous driving systems — providing an efficient, intelligent system solution for the electrification of commercial vehicles.

02. Jiaxing Base Continuously Empowering, Joint Venture Reaches New Heights

Since BAIC Foton and ZF established their joint venture in Jiaxing in 2017, the cooperation between the two parties has been continuously deepened. 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 marks a key 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, Municipal Government, the Economic Development Zone, and relevant departments for their long-standing care and support of the BAIC Foton-ZF transmission joint venture, 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, continue to lead with technology by fully leveraging ZF's global technology advantages and BAIC Foton's complete-vehicle scenario strengths, accelerating the efficient conversion of the electric drive axle from technical reserves to commercial delivery.

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

Third, advance localization and cost reduction with efficiency improvement, leveraging 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 on the "15th Five-Year Plan," Empowering Green Transformation of Commercial Vehicles

Standing at the critical juncture of the opening year of the "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, and comprehensive intelligence." Facing the industry trend of deep integration between electrification and intelligence, and the restructuring 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 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 drive cost revolution through technological innovation, unlock efficiency potential through lean management, and accelerate the new energy commercial vehicle sector's transition into a new stage driven by the market.