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 bore new fruit — the first AxTrax 2 electric drive axle from the two companies' joint venture plant officially rolled off the line in Jiaxing, marking that BAIC Foton has secured a key voice in the core components segment of commercial vehicle new energy and achieved a critical leap from strategic layout to real-world 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, 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 Divisions, joined hundreds of guests from government, both shareholders, partners, and the media to witness this milestone moment together.

01 Aligning with Industrial Transformation: Strategic Layout Bears Fruit

Today, the automotive industry is experiencing 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 new energy penetration projected to reach 50% by 2030 and L2+ level intelligent driving to reach 30%. Meanwhile, geopolitical competition is reshaping the global energy supply chain, and energy self-sufficiency has risen to a strategic priority for nations worldwide, compelling the commercial vehicle industry to accelerate its transition from fuel-driven to electric-driven power.

Based on this profound insight into 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 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, transforming 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 vehicles, replacing engines, transmissions, drive shafts, differentials, and conventional axles with a modular design to achieve commercial vehicle electrification. The product that rolled off the line features a silicon carbide inverter on a platform of up to 930V, delivering continuous output power of 210 kilowatts 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 achieving full synchronization with the vehicle's braking, ADAS, and autonomous driving systems, providing an efficient and intelligent system solution for the electrification transition of commercial vehicles.

02 Jiaxing Base Continues to Empower: Joint Venture Cooperation Reaches New Heights

Since BAIC Foton and ZF established their joint venture in Jiaxing in 2017, cooperation between the two parties has continuously deepened. To date, the BAIC Foton–ZF transmission joint venture plant has achieved cumulative sales of 20 billion RMB. Leveraging advanced production systems and intelligent equipment, the Jiaxing base is becoming ZF's important manufacturing, R&D, and functional headquarters in the Asia-Pacific region. The official roll-off of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle represents a key step in extending the partnership from the traditional transmission field 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 plant, and paid high tribute to the project team and all employees who worked day and night to overcome challenges. He noted that the roll-off of the new product is only the first step of a long march, and put forward three expectations for the joint venture's future development:

First, continue to lead through technology — fully leveraging ZF's global technological strengths and BAIC Foton's whole-vehicle scenario advantages to accelerate the efficient conversion of electric drive axles from technology reserves to product delivery;

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

Third, advance localization and cost reduction — relying on the resilience and scale advantages of the domestic industrial chain to accelerate component localization, bringing globally-qualified electric drive axles to customers at better value, and helping new energy commercial vehicles accelerate the shift from "policy-driven" to "market-driven."

03 Anchored in the 15th Five-Year Plan: Supporting the Green Transformation of Commercial Vehicles

Standing at the critical starting point 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 transformation, and comprehensive intelligentization. Facing industry trends of deep integration between electrification and intelligentization and the restructuring of the global landscape, BAIC Foton is using key technologies as levers to build vertical integration synergies across core components including 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 cost revolution through technological innovation and unlock efficiency potential through lean management, pushing new energy commercial vehicles to accelerate into a new stage of market-driven growth.