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 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 gained a key voice in core new-energy components for commercial vehicles and completed the critical leap from strategic blueprint to real-world delivery.

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; and Andreas Moser, Member of the ZF Group Board of Management and Head of Commercial Vehicle Solutions and Industrial Technology, joined hundreds of guests from government, both shareholder sides, partners and the media to witness the milestone.

01 · Riding the Tide of Industrial Change, a Strategic Bet Comes to Fruition

The automotive industry is going through changes unseen in a century, as the waves of electrification and intelligence sweep 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 per year, with new-energy penetration projected to reach 50% by 2030 and L2+ intelligent driving to reach 30% of commercial vehicles. At the same time, geopolitical rivalry is reshaping the global energy supply chain, and secure, self-controlled energy has risen to the strategic core of national policy — pressing the commercial vehicle industry to accelerate its shift from fuel-driven to electric-driven powertrains.

Out of a deep reading of these industry trends, BAIC Foton and ZF signed a strategic agreement in April 2023 to bring ZF's latest electric drive technology into China for the first time, with local production based in Jiaxing. After three years of careful construction and preparation, the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle has now officially rolled off the line at the joint venture plant, turning that strategic layout from blueprint into reality.

As an integrated electric drive axle platform that ZF has developed for next-generation commercial vehicles, AxTrax 2 is applicable to medium- and heavy-duty trucks. Its modular design replaces the engine, transmission, propshaft, differential and conventional axle in a single unit to achieve full vehicle electrification. The product launched this time features a silicon carbide inverter on a platform of up to 930V, delivering continuous output power of 210 kW and peak torque of 26,000 N·m, paired with a three-speed transmission and an electronic shift actuator. Its compact packaging maximizes the space available for battery placement, while achieving full synchronization with the vehicle's braking, ADAS and autonomous driving systems — offering an efficient, intelligent system solution for the electrification of commercial vehicles.

02 · The Jiaxing Base Keeps Empowering, 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 kept deepening. To date, the BAIC Foton–ZF transmission joint venture plant has recorded cumulative sales of RMB 20 billion. With advanced production systems and intelligent equipment, the Jiaxing base is becoming one of ZF's key manufacturing, R&D and functional headquarters in the Asia-Pacific region. The roll-off of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle is a decisive step in extending the partnership from conventional transmissions into the electric drive domain.

In his address, Lu Zhenghua expressed heartfelt gratitude to the Jiaxing Municipal Party Committee, the municipal government, the Economic and Technological Development Zone and relevant departments for their longstanding care and support for the joint venture plant, and paid tribute to the project team and all employees who worked day and night to overcome difficulties. Noting that the launch of a new product is only the first step of a long march, he put forward three expectations for the joint venture's future:

First, keep leading with technology. Fully leverage ZF's global technology strengths and BAIC Foton's vehicle-scenario advantages to accelerate the efficient conversion of the electric drive axle from a technology reserve into commercial delivery.

Second, deepen customer value. Stay focused on core scenarios such as trunk-line logistics and regional distribution, and speed up the value conversion from "off the line and delivered" to "profitable for the customer."

Third, advance localization, cost reduction and efficiency gains. Relying on the resilience of China's industrial chain and the advantages of scale, accelerate component localization so that globally engineered electric drive axles can serve customers at even better value, helping new-energy commercial vehicles move rapidly from "policy-driven" to "market-driven."

03 · Anchored on the "15th Five-Year Plan", Powering the Green Transition of Commercial Vehicles

Standing at the opening node of the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the production launch of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle is another major outcome of BAIC Foton's three strategies of full internationalization, full electrification and full intelligentization. Facing an industry trend in which electrification and intelligence are deeply converging and the global landscape is being restructured, BAIC Foton is using key technologies as its lever to build vertically integrated synergy across core components such as batteries, e-drives and electronic controls.

The official start of production 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 a cost revolution through technological innovation and unlock efficiency through lean management, pushing new-energy commercial vehicles into a new, market-driven stage of development.

Source: BAIC Foton official website