BAIC Foton and ZF Strategic Partnership Bears New Fruit: First AxTrax 2 Electric Drive Axle Rolls Off Production Line

On June 22, the strategic partnership between BAIC Foton and ZF bore new fruit — the first AxTrax 2 electric drive axle officially rolled off the production line at the joint venture factory in Jiaxing, marking that BAIC Foton has gained a key voice in the field of new energy core components for commercial vehicles, achieving a critical leap from planning to implementation. 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, Party Secretary 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 Management and Head of Commercial Vehicle Solutions and Industrial Technology Division, along with hundreds of guests from government, shareholders, partners, and media, gathered together to witness this milestone moment.

01 Adapting to Industry Transformation: Strategic Layout Bears Fruit

The automotive industry is currently experiencing unprecedented changes, 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 new energy penetration rate projected to reach 50% by 2030, and L2+ level intelligent driving in commercial vehicles reaching 30%. Meanwhile, geopolitical maneuvering is reshaping the global energy supply chain landscape, and energy self-sufficiency has risen to become a strategic core for nations, driving the commercial vehicle industry to accelerate its transition from fuel-driven to electric-driven powertrains.

Based on deep insight into industry trends, in April 2023, BAIC Foton and ZF signed a strategic agreement 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 officially rolled off the production line at the joint venture factory, marking this strategic layout transforming from blueprint to reality.

As ZF's integrated electric drive axle platform designed for next-generation commercial vehicles, AxTrax 2 can be applied to medium and heavy-duty vehicles, replacing engines, transmissions, drive shafts, differentials, and conventional axles with modular design to achieve commercial vehicle electrification. The product rolled off the line is equipped with a silicon carbide inverter on the highest 930V platform, with continuous output power reaching 210 kW, peak torque of 26,000 N·m, and a 3-speed transmission with electronic gear shift actuator. While the compact design maximizes battery placement space, it achieves full synchronization with vehicle braking, ADAS, and autonomous driving systems, providing an efficient and intelligent system solution for commercial vehicle electrification transformation.

02 Jiaxing Base Continuously Empowering: Joint Venture Cooperation Reaching New Heights

Since BAIC Foton and ZF established a joint venture in Jiaxing in 2017, cooperation between the two parties has been continuously deepened. Currently, the BAIC Foton and ZF transmission joint venture factory has achieved cumulative sales of 20 billion yuan. The Jiaxing base, leveraging its advanced production systems and intelligent equipment, 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 cooperation from traditional transmission areas to electric drive areas.

In his speech, Lu Zhenghua expressed heartfelt gratitude to the Jiaxing Municipal Party Committee, Municipal Government, Economic Development Zone, and relevant departments for their long-standing care and support for the development of the BAIC Foton and ZF transmission joint venture factory, 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 just the first step of a long journey, and put forward three expectations for the future development of the joint venture:

First, continue to lead in technology — fully leveraging ZF's global technology advantages and BAIC Foton's vehicle scenario advantages, accelerating the efficient transformation of electric drive axles from technology reserves to commercial delivery;

Second, deepen customer value — focusing on core scenarios such as trunk logistics and regional transportation, accelerating the value transformation of products from "roll-off delivery" to "customer profitability";

Third, promote localization and cost reduction with efficiency improvement — relying on the resilience and scale advantages of the domestic industrial chain, accelerating component localization, so that electric drive axles with global quality benefit customers at better cost-performance ratios, helping new energy commercial vehicles accelerate from "policy-driven" to "market-driven."

03 Anchoring the "15th Five-Year Plan": Supporting Green Transformation of Commercial Vehicles

Standing at the critical juncture of the first year of the "15th Five-Year Plan," the mass production rollout of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle is another important achievement of BAIC Foton's three major strategies of "comprehensive internationalization, comprehensive new energy, and comprehensive intelligence." Facing the industry trend of deep integration of electrification and intelligence and reshaping of the global landscape, BAIC Foton is using key technologies as levers to build vertical integration advantages in core components such as batteries, electric 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. In the future, the BAIC Foton and ZF transmission joint venture factory will continue to drive cost revolution through technological innovation, tap efficiency potential through lean management, and push new energy commercial vehicles toward a new stage of market-driven growth.