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 yielded another landmark achievement — the first AxTrax 2 electric drive axle produced at the two companies' joint venture plant officially rolled off the line in Jiaxing. The event signals that BAIC Foton has secured a key voice in the core component segment of new energy commercial vehicles, completing a critical leap from strategic layout to real-world delivery. 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, 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 & Industrial Technology; along with hundreds of guests from government, both shareholder parties, partners, and the media, gathered to witness this milestone moment.

01 Aligning with Industry Transformation, Strategic Layout Bears Fruit

Today, the automotive industry is undergoing a once-in-a-century transformation, as electrification and intelligentization sweep the globe. During the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, the domestic commercial vehicle market is expected to stabilize at around 3.2 million units per year, with new energy penetration projected to reach 50% by 2030 and L2+ level intelligent driving penetration in commercial vehicles reaching 30%. At the same time, geopolitical competition is reshaping the global energy supply chain, and energy self-sufficiency has become a strategic priority for nations worldwide, accelerating the commercial vehicle industry's transition from internal combustion power to electric drive.

Based on a profound insight into these industry trends, BAIC Foton and ZF signed 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 meticulous construction and preparation, the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle has now officially rolled off the line at the joint venture plant — turning this strategic blueprint into reality.

As ZF's integrated e-axle platform designed for next-generation commercial vehicles, the AxTrax 2 can be applied to both medium- and heavy-duty trucks. Its modular design replaces the engine, transmission, driveshaft, differential, and conventional axle in a single unit, enabling the electrification of commercial vehicles. The product that rolled off the line this time is equipped with a silicon carbide inverter on an up-to-930V platform, delivering 210 kW of continuous output and 26,000 N·m of peak torque. It features a 3-speed transmission and electronic shift actuator. Its compact design maximizes available space for battery placement while fully synchronizing with the vehicle's braking, ADAS, and autonomous driving systems — providing an efficient and intelligent system-level solution for the electrification of commercial vehicles.

02 Jiaxing Base Continues to Empower, Joint Venture Reaches New Heights

Since BAIC Foton and ZF established their joint venture in Jiaxing in 2017, the partnership 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 one of ZF's key manufacturing, R&D, and functional headquarters in the Asia-Pacific region. The official roll-off of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle marks a critical step in extending the joint venture's collaboration from the traditional transmission domain 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 BAIC Foton–ZF transmission joint venture plant. He paid high tribute to the project team and all employees who worked day and night to overcome challenges. He noted that the roll-off of the new product is only the first step of a long journey, and put forward three expectations for the future development of the joint venture:

First, sustain technological leadership — fully leverage ZF's global technology strengths and BAIC Foton's vehicle-level scenario advantages, and accelerate the efficient conversion of the e-axle from technology reserve to commercial delivery.

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

Third, advance localization and cost efficiency — rely on the resilience and scale advantages of China's domestic industrial chain to accelerate component localization, bringing world-class e-axles to customers at a better cost-performance ratio, and helping new energy commercial vehicles accelerate their shift from "policy-driven" to "market-driven."

03 Anchoring the "15th Five-Year Plan," Driving the Green Transformation of Commercial Vehicles

Standing at the critical starting point of the "15th Five-Year Plan," the mass-production roll-off of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle is another important achievement in BAIC Foton's advancement of its three major strategies: "full-scale internationalization, full-scale new energy transition, and full-scale intelligentization." Facing an industry trend in which electrification and intelligentization are deeply converging and the global landscape is being restructured, BAIC Foton is using key technologies as its anchor to build a vertically integrated synergy advantage across core components including batteries, e-drives, and electronic controls.

The official launch of AxTrax 2 electric drive axle production 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 potential through lean management, pushing new energy commercial vehicles to accelerate into a new stage of market-driven growth.