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 rolled off the production line at the two companies' joint venture plant in Jiaxing. This milestone marks BAIC Foton's acquisition of a key voice in the core components sector for new energy commercial vehicles, achieving a critical leap from strategic planning to implementation. Zhang Lan, Secretary of the Party Working Committee and Director of the Jiaxing Economic and Technological Development Zone Management Committee; 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; Andreas Moser, Member of the ZF Group Board of Management and Head of the Commercial Vehicle Solutions Division and Industrial Technology Division; along with hundreds of guests from government, both shareholder parties, partners, and the media, gathered together to witness this milestone moment.

01 | Adapting to Industry Transformation, Strategic Layout Bears Fruit

Today, the automotive industry is undergoing a once-in-a-century transformation, 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 penetration rate of new energy vehicles projected to reach 50% by 2030, and L2+ intelligent driving in commercial vehicles to reach 30%. Meanwhile, geopolitical maneuvering is reshaping the global energy supply chain landscape, and energy independence and controllability have been elevated to a strategic core for nations, driving the commercial vehicle industry to accelerate its transition from fuel-driven to electric-driven.

Based on this profound 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 plant, marking the transformation of this strategic layout from blueprint to reality.

As an integrated electric drive axle platform developed by ZF for next-generation commercial vehicles, 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 launched this time features a silicon carbide inverter on a platform with a maximum voltage of 930V, delivering continuous output power of 210 kW and peak torque of 26,000 N·m. Equipped with a 3-speed transmission and electronic gear shift actuator, the compact design maximizes battery placement space while achieving full synchronization with the vehicle's braking, ADAS, and autonomous driving systems, providing an efficient and intelligent system solution for the electrification of commercial vehicles.

02 | Jiaxing Base Continuously Empowers, Joint Venture Cooperation Reaches New Heights

Since BAIC Foton and ZF established their joint venture company in Jiaxing in 2017, cooperation between the two parties has deepened continuously. To date, the BAIC Foton and ZF transmission joint venture plant has achieved cumulative sales of 20 billion yuan. With 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 launch of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle represents a key step in the two parties' cooperation extending from the traditional transmission field to the electric drive field.

In his speech, Lu Zhenghua expressed heartfelt gratitude to the Jiaxing Municipal Party Committee, Municipal Government, the 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 plant, and paid high tribute to the project team and all employees who worked day and night to overcome challenges. He stated that the launch 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 technological leadership by fully leveraging ZF's global technology advantages and BAIC Foton's complete vehicle scenario advantages, accelerating the efficient conversion of electric drive axles from technology reserves to product delivery.

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

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

03 | Anchored on 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 launch of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle is another important achievement of BAIC Foton in advancing its three major strategies of "comprehensive internationalization, comprehensive new energy, and comprehensive intelligence." Facing the industry trend of deep integration of electrification and intelligence and the restructuring of the global landscape, BAIC Foton is using key technologies as a lever to build vertically integrated synergy advantages in core components such as batteries, electric drives, and electronic controls.

The official 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 and ZF transmission joint venture plant will continue to drive a cost revolution through technological innovation and tap efficiency potential through lean management, pushing new energy commercial vehicles to accelerate toward a new stage driven by the market.