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 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. The milestone signals that BAIC Foton has secured a key voice in the core component segment of new-energy commercial vehicles, achieving a critical leap from strategic layout to real-world implementation.

01 — Riding the Wave of Industry Transformation: Strategic Layout Bears Fruit

The ceremony was attended by Zhang Lan, Secretary of the 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, 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 Directors and Head of the Commercial Vehicle Solutions and Industrial Technology Divisions, along with hundreds of guests from government, both shareholder sides, partners, and the media — all gathered to witness this landmark moment.

Today, the automotive industry is undergoing once-in-a-century upheaval, with electrification and intelligentization sweeping the globe. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, China's domestic commercial vehicle market is expected to stabilize around 3.2 million units per year, with new-energy penetration projected to reach 50% by 2030 and L2+ intelligent driving penetration in commercial vehicles to hit 30%. At the same time, geopolitical competition is reshaping global energy supply chains, and energy self-sufficiency has been elevated to a core national strategy, pushing the commercial vehicle industry to accelerate its transition from fuel-driven to electric-driven powertrains.

Based on a profound insight into these industry trends, BAIC Foton and ZF signed a strategic agreement in April 2023 to bring ZF's latest electric drive technology to China for the first time, with local production in Jiaxing. After three years of dedicated 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 the next generation of 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 unveiled at the roll-off ceremony is equipped with a silicon-carbide inverter on a high-voltage platform of up to 930V, delivering 210 kW of continuous output and 26,000 N·m of peak torque. It features a 3-speed transmission and electronic shift actuator, and its compact architecture maximizes available space for battery packaging while fully synchronizing with the vehicle's braking, ADAS, and autonomous driving systems — offering an efficient, intelligent system-level solution for the electrification of commercial vehicles.

02 — 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 achieved cumulative sales of RMB 20 billion. 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 roll-off of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle marks a key step in extending the partnership from conventional transmissions into the electric drive domain.

In his address, Lu Zhenghua extended heartfelt thanks to the Jiaxing Municipal Party Committee, the municipal government, the Economic Development Zone, and relevant departments for their long-standing care and support of the BAIC Foton–ZF transmission joint venture plant, and paid tribute to the project team and all employees who worked day and night to overcome challenges. He emphasized 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 of the joint venture:

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

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

Third, advance localization and cost reduction by tapping the resilience and scale advantages of China's domestic supply chain, speeding up component localization so that world-class e-axles can benefit customers with superior cost-performance, and helping new-energy commercial vehicles accelerate their transition from "policy-driven" to "market-driven" growth.

03 — Anchored to the 15th Five-Year Plan: Powering the Green Transformation of Commercial Vehicles

Standing at the pivotal opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, the mass production roll-off of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle is another major achievement in BAIC Foton's push of its three grand strategies: "full internationalization, full new-energy transformation, and full intelligentization." Facing industry trends of deep convergence between electrification and intelligentization, and the restructuring of the global landscape, BAIC Foton is using key technologies as a lever to build vertical integration advantages across core components including 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 vehicle lineup, 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, unlock efficiency through lean management, and propel new-energy commercial vehicles into a new phase of market-driven growth.