BAIC Foton and ZF Strategic Partnership Achieves New Milestone: First AxTrax 2 Electric Drive Axle Rolls Off the Line
On June 22, the strategic partnership between BAIC Foton and ZF Friedrichshafen AG (ZF) achieved another milestone — the first AxTrax 2 electric drive axle rolled off the production line at the two companies' joint venture plant in Jiaxing. This marks a critical leap from strategic planning to execution, signaling that BAIC Foton has secured an important voice in the field of core new-energy components for commercial vehicles. 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 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; Andreas Moser, Member of the Board of Management of ZF Group and Head of Commercial Vehicle Solutions and Industrial Technology Divisions, along with hundreds of guests from government, shareholders, partners, and the media gathered to witness this milestone moment.
01. Riding the Wave of Industry Transformation — Strategic Planning Bears Fruit
Today, the automotive industry is undergoing the most profound transformation in a century, as electrification and intelligentization sweep the globe. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026–2030), China's domestic commercial vehicle market is expected to stabilize at around 3.2 million units, with the new-energy penetration rate projected to reach 50% by 2030 and L2+ intelligent driving penetration in commercial vehicles reaching 30%. Meanwhile, geopolitical competition is reshaping global energy supply chains, and energy self-sufficiency has become a strategic priority for nations worldwide, accelerating the transition of the commercial vehicle industry from fuel-driven to electric-drive powertrains.
Based on a deep understanding of industry trends, in April 2023, BAIC Foton and ZF signed a strategic agreement to bring ZF's latest electric drive technology to China for the first time, with production localized in Jiaxing. After three years of meticulous construction and preparation, the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle officially rolled off the line at the joint venture plant, turning this strategic blueprint into 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, replacing the engine, transmission, driveshaft, differential, and conventional axle with a modular design to achieve commercial vehicle electrification. The product that rolled off the line features a silicon carbide (SiC) inverter on a 930V platform, delivering a continuous output power of 210 kW and a peak torque of 26,000 N·m. Equipped with a 3-speed transmission and electronic shift actuator, its compact design maximizes battery packaging space while achieving full synchronization with vehicle braking, ADAS, and autonomous driving systems — providing an efficient and intelligent system-level solution for commercial vehicle electrification.
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 parties has continued to deepen. To date, the Foton-ZF transmission joint venture plant has accumulated sales revenue of RMB 20 billion. Leveraging advanced production systems and intelligent equipment, the Jiaxing base is becoming a key manufacturing, R&D, and functional headquarters for ZF in the Asia-Pacific region. The official launch of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle marks a critical step in extending the partnership from traditional transmission technology into the electric drive domain.
In his address, Mr. Lu Zhenghua expressed heartfelt gratitude 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 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 stated that the launch of the new product is only the first step of a long journey, and outlined three expectations for the future development of the joint venture:
First, to maintain continuous technological leadership by fully leveraging ZF's global technology advantages and BAIC Foton's vehicle-level application scenarios, accelerating the efficient transition of electric drive axles from technology reserves to commercial delivery.
Second, to deepen customer value by focusing on core scenarios such as trunk-line logistics and regional transportation, accelerating the value conversion from "product delivery" to "customer profitability."
Third, to advance localization and cost reduction by leveraging the resilience and scale advantages of China's domestic supply chain, accelerating the localization of components, and delivering global-quality electric drive axles to customers at better cost-performance ratios, helping new-energy commercial vehicles accelerate their shift from "policy-driven" to "market-driven" growth.
03. Anchored to the "15th Five-Year Plan" — Driving Green Transformation in Commercial Vehicles
At this critical juncture marking the opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, the mass production launch of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle represents another significant achievement in BAIC Foton's advancement of its three core strategies: "comprehensive internationalization, comprehensive new-energy transition, and comprehensive intelligentization." Facing industry trends of deep integration between electrification and intelligentization, and the restructuring of the global landscape, BAIC Foton is leveraging key technologies to build vertically integrated synergies across core components such as 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 Foton-ZF transmission joint venture plant will continue to drive a cost revolution through technological innovation, unlock efficiency through lean management, and accelerate the new-energy commercial vehicle sector's transition into a new, market-driven phase.
Source: BAIC Foton Official Website