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 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 components segment of new-energy commercial vehicles, completing the leap from strategic planning to real-world execution.

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 Management Board of ZF Group and Head of Commercial Vehicle Solutions and Industrial Technology, joined several hundred guests from government, both shareholder parties, industry partners and the media to witness this milestone moment.

01 Aligning with Industrial Transformation: Strategy Becomes Reality

The automotive industry is currently undergoing changes unseen in a century, as the waves of electrification and intelligent connected technology sweep across the globe. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026–2030), China's domestic commercial vehicle market is expected to stabilize at roughly 3.2 million units, with new-energy penetration forecast to reach 50% by 2030 and L2+ intelligent driving adoption 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, pushing the commercial vehicle industry to accelerate its shift from fuel-driven to electric-driven powertrains.

Built on a deep reading of 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 that strategic blueprint into reality.

As ZF's integrated electric drive axle platform developed for the next generation of commercial vehicles, AxTrax 2 can be applied to medium- and heavy-duty trucks. Its modular design replaces the engine, transmission, propeller shaft, differential and conventional axle, enabling the electrification of commercial vehicles. The unit that rolled off the line is equipped with a silicon-carbide inverter on a platform of up to 930 volts, delivering 210 kW of continuous output power and a peak torque of 26,000 N·m. Fitted with a three-speed transmission and an electronic shift 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 transition of commercial vehicles.

02 The Jiaxing Base Keeps Empowering: Joint Venture Reaches a New Level

Since BAIC Foton and ZF established their joint venture in Jiaxing in 2017, the partnership has continued to deepen. To date, the Foton-ZF gearbox joint venture plant has achieved cumulative sales of 20 billion yuan. With its advanced production systems and intelligent equipment, the Jiaxing base is becoming an important manufacturing, R&D and functional headquarters site for ZF in the Asia-Pacific region. The official roll-out of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle marks a key step in extending the two partners' collaboration from conventional transmissions into the electric drive domain.

In his address, Lu Zhenghua expressed heartfelt thanks 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 of the Foton-ZF gearbox joint venture plant, and paid tribute to the project team and all employees who worked day and night to overcome formidable challenges. He noted that the roll-out of a new product is only the first step of a long march, and put forward three expectations for the joint venture's future:

First, sustain technological leadership. Fully leverage ZF's global technology strengths and BAIC Foton's vehicle-level and application-scenario advantages to accelerate the efficient conversion of the electric drive axle from a technology reserve into commercial deliveries.

Second, deepen customer value. Focus closely on core scenarios such as trunk-line logistics and regional transportation, and speed the value conversion of the product from "delivered off the line" to "profitable for the customer."

Third, advance localization, cost reduction and efficiency gains. Rely on the resilience and scale advantages of China's domestic supply chain to accelerate component localization, so that an electric drive axle of global quality can benefit customers with better value for money — helping new-energy commercial vehicles move from "policy-driven" to "market-driven" at a faster pace.

03 Anchored on the "15th Five-Year Plan": Powering the Green Transition of Commercial Vehicles

Standing at the pivotal start of the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the mass-production roll-out of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle is another major achievement in BAIC Foton's push of its three strategies: "full-scale internationalization, full-scale new-energy transition and full-scale intelligentization." Facing an industry trend in which electrification and intelligent connectivity 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 including 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. Going forward, the BAIC Foton–ZF gearbox joint venture plant will continue to drive a cost revolution through technological innovation and unlock efficiency through lean management, pushing new-energy commercial vehicles toward a new stage led by market demand.