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

On June 22, the strategic partnership between BAIC Foton and ZF bore fresh fruit — the first AxTrax 2 electric drive axle rolled off the line at the two companies' joint venture plant in Jiaxing, signaling that BAIC Foton has secured key command over core new-energy components for commercial vehicles and achieving a critical leap from strategic layout to on-the-ground execution. The ceremony was attended by 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 Directors and Head of Commercial Vehicle Solutions and Industrial Technology Divisions, along with hundreds of guests from government, both shareholder parties, partners and the media, who jointly witnessed this milestone moment.

01  Aligning with Industry Transformation — Strategic Layout Bears Fruit

The automotive industry is currently undergoing an once-in-a-century transformation, with the waves of electrification and intelligentization 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 new-energy penetration projected to reach 50% by 2030 and L2+ intelligent driving penetration in commercial vehicles reaching 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 worldwide, compelling the commercial vehicle industry to accelerate its 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 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 next-generation commercial vehicles, AxTrax 2 can be applied to medium- and heavy-duty trucks. Its modular architecture replaces the engine, transmission, driveshaft, differential and conventional axles, enabling the electrification of commercial vehicles. The unit rolled off the line is equipped with a silicon carbide inverter on a maximum 930V platform, delivering 210 kW of continuous output power and up to 26,000 N·m of peak torque. Fitted with a 3-speed transmission and an electronic gear-shift actuator, its compact design maximizes available space for battery packaging while fully synchronizing with the vehicle's braking, ADAS and autonomous driving systems — providing an efficient and intelligent system-level solution for the electrification of commercial vehicles.

02  Jiaxing Base Continues to Empower — Joint Venture Reaches a New Level

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 accumulated RMB 20 billion in sales revenue. With its 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 launch of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle marks 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 tribute to the project team and all employees who worked day and night to overcome challenges. He noted that the launch of the new product is only the first step of a long journey, and put forward three expectations for the future of the joint venture:

First, sustain technological leadership — fully leverage ZF's global technology strengths and BAIC Foton's vehicle and application-scenario advantages, and accelerate the efficient conversion of electric drive axles from technology储备 into commercial delivery.

Second, deepen customer value — focus on core scenarios such as trunk-line logistics and regional transportation, and speed up the value conversion from "product off the line" to "customer profitability."

Third, advance localization and cost reduction with efficiency gains — rely on the resilience and scale advantages of China's domestic supply chain to accelerate component localization, so that globally-qualified electric drive axles can benefit customers with better cost-performance, and help 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

At this key juncture — the opening year 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 push of its three major strategies: "full internationalization, full new-energy transition, and full intelligentization." Facing an industry trend defined by the deep convergence of 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 including batteries, electric drive systems and electronic controls.

The official production launch of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle not only provides strong technological 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 a cost revolution through technological innovation and unlock efficiency through lean management, propelling new-energy commercial vehicles into a new, market-driven stage of development.