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 for BAIC Foton in grasping critical influence in the field of core new-energy components for commercial vehicles, turning strategic positioning into tangible results. Zhang Lan, Secretary of the Party Working Committee and Director of the Management Committee of Jiaxing Economic and Technological Development Zone; Chang Rui, Deputy Party Secretary, 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 Directors and Head of Commercial Vehicle Solutions and Industrial Technology; and hundreds of guests from government, both shareholder parties, partners and the media gathered together to witness this milestone moment.

01 Following the Tide of Industrial Transformation: Strategic Layout Bears Fruit

Today, the automotive industry is undergoing changes unseen in a century, 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 penetration rate of new-energy vehicles projected to reach 50% by 2030 and L2+ intelligent driving for commercial vehicles to reach 30%. At the same time, geopolitical maneuvering is reshaping the global energy supply chain, and energy independence has risen to the strategic core of nations, compelling the commercial vehicle industry to accelerate its transition 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 localized in Jiaxing. After three years of careful construction and preparation, the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle has officially rolled off the production line at the joint venture plant, marking the realization of this strategic blueprint.

As ZF's integrated electric drive axle platform designed for next-generation commercial vehicles, the AxTrax 2 can be applied to medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. Its modular design replaces the engine, transmission, drive shaft, differential and conventional axle to achieve the electrification of commercial vehicles. The product rolled off the line this time is equipped with a silicon carbide inverter on a platform of up to 930V, delivering a continuous output of 210 kW and a peak torque of 26,000 N·m, paired with a 3-speed transmission and electronic shift actuator. Its compact design maximizes space for battery placement while achieving full synchronization with the vehicle's braking, ADAS and autonomous driving systems, providing an efficient and intelligent system solution for the electrification transition of commercial vehicles.

02 The Jiaxing Base Continues to Empower: Joint Venture Cooperation Reaches New Heights

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 accumulated 20 billion yuan in sales. 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 is a key step in extending the partnership from the conventional transmission field into the electric drive field.

In his address, Lu Zhenghua expressed sincere gratitude to the Jiaxing Municipal 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 difficulties. He stated that the roll-off 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, continue to lead with technology — fully leverage ZF's global technological strengths and BAIC Foton's vehicle application scenario advantages to accelerate the efficient conversion of the electric drive axle from technology reserves to commercial delivery;

Second, deepen customer value — focus closely on core scenarios such as trunk-line logistics and regional transportation, and accelerate the value conversion of the product from "delivery upon roll-off" to "customer profitability";

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

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

Standing at the critical juncture of the opening year of the "15th Five-Year Plan", the mass-production roll-off of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle is another important achievement of BAIC Foton's advancement of its three major strategies of "full internationalization, full new-energy transition and full intelligentization". Facing industry trends of deep integration of electrification and intelligentization and the restructuring of the global landscape, BAIC Foton is leveraging key technologies to build a vertically integrated synergy advantage in 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. In the future, the BAIC Foton–ZF transmission joint venture plant will continue to drive a cost revolution through technological innovation and tap into efficiency gains through lean management, pushing new-energy commercial vehicles to accelerate toward a new stage of market-driven development.