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 production line in Jiaxing, marking a key leap in BAIC Foton's grasp of critical influence over core components for new-energy commercial vehicles and the realization of a transition from strategic planning to on-the-ground delivery. Zhang Lan, Secretary of the Working Committee of the Jiaxing Economic and Technological Development Zone and Director of its Management Committee; 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 Board of Management of ZF Group and Head of the Commercial Vehicle Solutions and Industrial Technology divisions, joined hundreds of guests from government, both shareholder parties, partners and the media to jointly witness this milestone moment.

01 Aligning with Industry Transformation, Strategic Positioning Yields Results

Today, the automotive industry is experiencing a once-in-a-century transformation, as the waves of electrification and intelligentization 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, with the new-energy penetration rate projected to reach 50% by 2030 and L2+ intelligent driving in commercial vehicles to reach 30%. At the same time, geopolitical maneuvering is reshaping the global energy supply chain, and energy autonomy has 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 has officially rolled off the line at the joint venture plant, signaling that this strategic blueprint has become 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, driveshaft, differential and conventional axle to achieve the electrification of commercial vehicles. The product that rolled off the line this time is equipped with a silicon carbide inverter on an up to 930V platform, delivering continuous output of 210 kW and peak torque of 26,000 N·m, paired with a 3-speed transmission and an electronic shift actuator. Its compact design maximizes the space available 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, Taking Joint Venture Cooperation to a New Level

Since BAIC Foton and ZF established their joint venture in Jiaxing in 2017, cooperation between the two sides has deepened continuously. To date, the BAIC Foton–ZF transmission joint venture plant has accumulated RMB 20 billion in sales, and 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 rollout of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle is a key step in extending the cooperation between the two parties 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 and Technological Development Zone and relevant departments for their longstanding care and support of 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 rollout 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, sustain technological leadership by fully leveraging ZF's global technology advantages and BAIC Foton's strengths in vehicle application scenarios, and accelerate the efficient conversion of the electric drive axle from a technology reserve into commercial delivery;

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

Third, advance localization and cost reduction with efficiency gains, relying on the resilience of the domestic industrial chain and the advantages of scale to accelerate the localization of components, so that electric drive axles of global quality can benefit customers with better cost-performance, and help new-energy commercial vehicles accelerate their transition from "policy-driven" to "market-driven."

03 Anchoring on the 15th Five-Year Plan, Empowering the Green Transition of Commercial Vehicles

Standing at the critical juncture of the opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, the mass-production rollout of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle is another important achievement in BAIC Foton's advancement of its three major strategies — "full-scale internationalization, full-scale new-energy transformation and full-scale intelligentization." Facing an industry trend of deep integration between electrification and intelligentization and the restructuring of the global landscape, BAIC Foton is using key technologies as a lever to build a vertically integrated synergy advantage in core components such as batteries, electric drives and electronic controls.

The official launch 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 localized development 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 potential through lean management, pushing new-energy commercial vehicles to accelerate toward a new stage of market-driven growth.