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 delivered another milestone result — the first AxTrax 2 electric drive axle produced by the two companies' joint venture plant officially rolled off the line in Jiaxing. The event marks a decisive step by BAIC Foton in securing a key voice in new-energy core components for commercial vehicles, turning strategic planning into tangible execution.

Guests from government, both shareholders, partners and the media gathered to witness the historic moment, including 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 of ZF Foton; and Andreas Moser, Member of the ZF Group Board of Management responsible for Commercial Vehicle Solutions and Industrial Technology.

01 | Riding the Wave of Industry Transformation, Strategic Positioning Bears Fruit

Today, the automotive industry is undergoing a once-in-a-century transformation, as the waves of electrification and intelligentization sweep across the globe. During China's 15th Five-Year Plan period, the 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+ intelligent driving penetration in commercial vehicles reaching 30%. Meanwhile, geopolitical competition is reshaping the global energy supply chain, and energy self-reliance has become a strategic priority for nations, accelerating the commercial vehicle industry's shift from fuel-driven to electric-driven powertrains.

Built 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 based in Jiaxing. After three years of careful construction and preparation, the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle has now officially entered production at the joint venture plant, turning this strategic blueprint into reality.

As ZF's integrated electric drive axle platform developed for the next generation of commercial vehicles, the AxTrax 2 is applicable to medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. Its modular design replaces the engine, transmission, driveshaft, differential and conventional axle to electrify commercial vehicles. The product that rolled off the line today features a silicon carbide (SiC) inverter on a platform of up to 930V, delivering 210 kW of continuous output power and 26,000 N·m of peak torque. Equipped with a 3-speed transmission and an electronic gear-shifting actuator, its compact design maximizes available space for battery packaging while achieving full synchronization with the vehicle's braking, ADAS and autonomous driving systems — providing an efficient, intelligent system-level 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 been continuously deepened. To date, the BAIC Foton–ZF transmission joint venture plant has accumulated 20 billion yuan in sales revenue. With its advanced production systems and intelligent equipment, the Jiaxing base is becoming ZF's key manufacturing, R&D and engineering headquarters in the Asia-Pacific region. The official launch of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle represents a crucial step in extending the partnership from traditional 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 Development Zone and relevant departments for their long-standing care and support of the BAIC Foton–ZF transmission joint venture. He also extended high respect to the project team and all employees who worked day and night to overcome challenges. He noted that the launch of the new product is only the first step of a long journey, and put forward three expectations for the joint venture's future development:

• Sustain technology leadership: Fully leverage ZF's global technology strengths and BAIC Foton's vehicle-application scenario advantages to accelerate the efficient conversion of the electric drive axle from technology reserve to commercial delivery.
• Deepen customer value: Focus on core scenarios such as trunk-line logistics and regional transport, accelerating the value conversion from "line-off delivery" to "customer profitability."
• Advance localization and cost-efficiency: Rely on the resilience and scale advantages of China's industrial chain to accelerate component localization, bringing world-quality 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 on the 15th Five-Year Plan, Powering the Green Transition of Commercial Vehicles

Standing at the critical starting point of the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the mass-production launch of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle is another important achievement in BAIC Foton's push of its three major strategies: "full internationalization, full new-energy transformation, and full 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 a vertically integrated synergy advantage across core components such as batteries, e-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. Looking ahead, the BAIC Foton–ZF transmission joint venture will continue to drive a cost revolution through technological innovation and unlock efficiency through lean management, pushing new-energy commercial vehicles into a new stage driven by the market.

Source: BAIC Foton Official News Center