BAIC Foton and ZF Strategic Partnership Bears New Fruit: First AxTrax 2 Electric Drive Axle Rolls Off the Production Line
On June 22, the strategic partnership between BAIC Foton and ZF bore new fruit — 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 represents 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 the 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 ofZF Foton; and Andreas Moser, Member of the Management Board of ZF Group and head of the Commercial Vehicle Solutions and Industrial Technology divisions, together with hundreds of guests from government, both shareholder parties, partners and the media, gathered to witness this milestone moment.
01 Following the Tide of Industrial Transformation, Strategic Layout Bears Fruit
The automotive industry is currently undergoing changes unseen in a century, with the waves of electrification and intelligence sweeping the globe. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the domestic commercial vehicle market is expected to stabilize at around 3.2 million units, with the penetration rate of new energy vehicles forecast to reach 50% by 2030 and L2+ level intelligent driving for commercial vehicles to reach 30%. At the same time, geopolitical competition is reshaping the global energy supply chain, and energy independence has risen to the strategic core of nations, pushing the commercial vehicle industry to accelerate its transition from fuel-driven to electric-driven power.
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 into 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 officially rolled off the line at the joint venture plant, turning this strategic blueprint into reality.
As an integrated electric drive axle platform developed by ZF for next-generation commercial vehicles, the AxTrax 2 can be applied to medium and heavy vehicles. Its modular design replaces the engine, transmission, driveshaft, differential and conventional axles, enabling the electrification of commercial vehicles. The product launched this time is equipped with a silicon carbide inverter on a platform of up to 930V, delivering a continuous output of 210 kW and a peak torque of 26,000 N·m. Fitted 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 The Jiaxing Base Continues to Empower, Joint Venture Cooperation 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 achieved cumulative sales of 20 billion yuan. 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 the traditional transmission field into the electric drive field.
In his address, Lu Zhenghua expressed heartfelt thanks to the Jiaxing Municipal Committee, the municipal government, the Economic Development Zone and relevant departments for their long-standing care and support for the development 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, to sustain technological leadership by fully leveraging ZF's global technology advantages and BAIC Foton's vehicle-scenario strengths, accelerating the efficient conversion of the electric drive axle from technology reserves to commercial delivery;
Second, to deepen customer value by focusing on core scenarios such as trunk-line logistics and regional transportation, speeding up the value conversion of products from "delivery off the line" to "customer profitability";
Third, to advance localization and cost reduction with efficiency gains, relying on the resilience and scale advantages of the domestic industrial chain to accelerate component localization, so that world-class electric drive axles benefit customers with better cost performance, and to 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 Transformation of Commercial Vehicles
Standing at the key juncture of the opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, the mass-production launch of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle is another important achievement of BAIC Foton's three major strategies of "comprehensive internationalization, comprehensive new-energy transition 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 a vertically integrated collaborative advantage in core components such as batteries, electric drives and electronic controls.