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 fresh fruit—the first AxTrax 2 electric drive axle from the two companies' joint venture plant officially rolled off the production line in Jiaxing. The event marks a key leap from strategy to execution, signaling that BAIC Foton has secured a critical voice in the core components segment of new-energy commercial vehicles. 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, 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 the Commercial Vehicle Solutions and Industrial Technology Divisions; together with hundreds of guests from government, both shareholder sides, partners, and the media, gathered to witness this milestone moment.

01 Aligning with Industrial Transformation, Strategic Layout Bears Fruit

Today, the automotive industry is undergoing a once-in-a-century transformation, 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 projected to reach 50% by 2030 and L2+ level intelligent driving in commercial vehicles reaching 30%. At the same time, geopolitical competition is reshaping the global energy supply chain, and energy independence and control have been elevated to a strategic core for nations, compelling the commercial vehicle industry to accelerate its shift 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 to China for the first time, with production located in Jiaxing. After three years of careful construction and preparation, the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle 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 the next generation of commercial vehicles, the AxTrax 2 can be applied to medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. Its modular design replaces the engine, transmission, drive shaft, differential, and conventional axle to achieve the electrification of commercial vehicles. The product rolled off the line this time is equipped with a silicon carbide inverter on a platform of up to 930V, delivering continuous output power of 210kW and peak torque of 26,000Nm. Fitted with a 3-speed transmission and an electronic gear-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, 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 continued to deepen. To date, the BAIC Foton and ZF transmission joint venture plant has accumulated 20 billion yuan in sales. 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 represents a key step in extending the two companies' cooperation from the traditional transmission field into the electric drive domain.

In his address, Lu Zhenghua expressed heartfelt thanks to the Jiaxing Municipal Party Committee, the municipal government, the Economic Development Zone, and relevant departments for their longstanding care and support of the BAIC Foton and 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 journey, and put forward three expectations for the future development of the joint venture:

First, sustain technological leadership by fully leveraging ZF's global technology advantages and BAIC Foton's complete-vehicle scenario strengths, and accelerating the efficient conversion of the electric drive axle from technology reserves to commercial delivery;

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

Third, advance localization and cost reduction with efficiency gains, relying on the resilience and scale advantages of the domestic industrial chain to accelerate the localization of components, so that world-class electric drive axles benefit customers at better value for money, helping new-energy commercial vehicles accelerate their transition from "policy-driven" to "market-driven."

03 Anchored in the "15th Five-Year Plan," Driving the Green Transition 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 transition, and comprehensive intelligentization." Facing industry trends of the deep integration of electrification and intelligence and the restructuring of the global landscape, BAIC Foton is using key technologies as a lever to build a vertically integrated synergy advantage across core components such as batteries, electric drives, and electronic controls.

The official commissioning 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 localized development of electric drive technology in China's commercial vehicle industry. In the future, the BAIC Foton and ZF transmission joint venture plant will continue to drive a cost revolution through technological innovation and unlock efficiency potential through lean management, propelling new-energy commercial vehicles toward a new stage of market-driven growth.