BAIC Foton and ZF Strategic Partnership Yields New Fruit: First AxTrax 2 Electric Drive Axle Rolls Off the Line in Jiaxing

On June 22, the strategic partnership between BAIC Foton and ZF Friedrichshafen produced another milestone: the first AxTrax 2 electric drive axle from the two companies' joint venture plant officially rolled off the production line in Jiaxing. The event signals that BAIC Foton has secured a key voice in the core new-energy components segment for commercial vehicles, completing a critical leap from strategic planning to actual 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 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 several hundred guests from government, both shareholder parties, partners and the media to witness this milestone moment.

01 | Aligning with Industry Transformation: Strategy Bears Fruit

The automotive industry is currently undergoing a once-in-a-century transformation, with the waves of electrification and intelligentization sweeping 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 forecast to reach 50% by 2030 and L2+ intelligent driving penetration in commercial vehicles reaching 30%. At the same time, geopolitical competition is reshaping the global energy supply chain, and energy independence has been elevated to a strategic priority for nations worldwide, pushing the commercial vehicle industry to accelerate its shift from fuel-driven to electric-drive powertrains.

It was precisely this deep insight into industry trends that led BAIC Foton and ZF to sign a strategic agreement in April 2023, introducing ZF's latest electric drive technology to China for the first time and localizing production 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 blueprint into reality.

As ZF's integrated e-axle platform developed for next-generation commercial vehicles, AxTrax 2 can be applied to both medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. Its modular design replaces the engine, transmission, propeller shaft, differential and conventional axle, 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 continuous output power of 210 kW and peak torque of 26,000 N·m, paired with a 3-speed transmission and an electronic shift actuator. While its compact design maximizes the space freed up for battery packaging, it is also fully synchronized with vehicle braking, ADAS and autonomous driving systems, providing an efficient and intelligent system-level solution for the electrification transition of commercial vehicles.

02 | Jiaxing Base Continues to Empower, Joint Venture Reaches New Level

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–ZF transmission joint venture plant has achieved cumulative sales of RMB 20 billion. 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 roll-off of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle represents a key 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 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 tough challenges. He noted that the roll-off of a new product is only the first step of a long journey, and put forward three expectations for the joint venture's future development:

First, sustain technological leadership by fully leveraging ZF's global technology strengths and BAIC Foton's vehicle-level and application-scenario advantages, accelerating the efficient conversion of e-axle technology from a technology reserve into commercial delivery.

Second, deepen customer value by closely targeting core scenarios such as trunk-line logistics and regional transportation, 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 China's domestic industrial chain to speed up component localization, so that world-quality e-axles benefit customers at better value for money, and helping new-energy commercial vehicles accelerate their shift from "policy-driven" to "market-driven" growth.

03 | Anchored on the 15th Five-Year Plan, Supporting the Green Transition of Commercial Vehicles

Standing at the critical starting point of the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the mass-production roll-off 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 transition and full intelligentization. Facing industry trends in which electrification and intelligentization are deeply converging and the global competitive landscape is being restructured, BAIC Foton is using key technologies as its lever to build a vertically integrated synergy advantage across core components such as batteries, electric 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. Looking ahead, 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 to accelerate into a new phase driven by the market.