BAIC Foton and ZF Strategic Partnership Bears New Fruit: First AxTrax 2 Electric Drive Axle Rolls Off the Line

On June 22, the strategic partnership between BAIC Foton and ZF Friedrichshafen yielded another major result — the first AxTrax 2 electric drive axle from the two companies' joint venture plant officially rolled off the production line in Jiaxing. The event marks BAIC Foton's acquisition of a key voice in the core components segment of new-energy commercial vehicles and represents a critical leap from strategic layout to real-world implementation. Zhang Lan, Secretary of the Party Working Committee and Director of the Management Committee of Jiaxing Economic and Technological Development Zone; Chang Rui, Deputy Party Secretary and 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; and Andreas Moser, Member of the Management Board of ZF Group and Head of the Commercial Vehicle Solutions and Industrial Technology Divisions, joined hundreds of guests from government, both shareholder parties, partners and the media to witness this milestone moment together.

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

The automotive industry is currently experiencing a once-in-a-century transformation, with the waves of electrification and intelligence sweeping across 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 reaching 30%. At the same time, geopolitical competition is reshaping the global energy supply chain, and energy autonomy has been elevated to a core strategic priority for nations, compelling 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 introduce ZF's latest electric drive technology to China for the first time, with production located in Jiaxing. After three years of careful construction and preparation, the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle officially rolled off the line at the joint venture plant, marking the transformation of this strategic blueprint into reality.

As ZF's integrated electric drive axle platform designed for the next generation of commercial vehicles, AxTrax 2 can be applied to medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. Its modular design replaces the engine, transmission, drive shaft, differential and conventional axle, enabling the electrification of commercial vehicles. The product rolled off the line this time is equipped with a silicon carbide inverter on a platform of up to 930V, delivering a continuous output of 210 kW and peak torque of 26,000 N·m, paired with a 3-speed transmission and electronic gear-shifting actuator. Its compact design maximizes available space for battery placement while achieving full synchronization with the vehicle's braking, ADAS and autonomous driving systems — providing an efficient and intelligent system solution for the electrification transformation of commercial vehicles.

02 The 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 continuously deepened. 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 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 is a key step in extending the cooperation between the two parties from the traditional transmission field into the electric drive domain.

In his address, Lu Zhenghua expressed heartfelt gratitude to the Jiaxing Municipal Party Committee, the municipal government, the Economic Development Zone and relevant departments for their longstanding care and support of the BAIC Foton–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 noted 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 to lead with technology by fully leveraging ZF's global technology advantages and BAIC Foton's vehicle application scenario strengths, accelerating the efficient conversion of the electric drive axle from technology reserves to commercial delivery;

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

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

03 Anchored on the "15th Five-Year Plan" — Driving 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 in BAIC Foton's promotion of its three major strategies: "full-scale internationalization, full-scale new-energy transformation, and full-scale intelligentization." Facing industry trends of deep integration between electrification and intelligence and the restructuring of the global landscape, BAIC Foton is using key technologies as a lever to build a vertically integrated synergy advantage in 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. Looking ahead, the BAIC Foton–ZF transmission joint venture plant will continue to drive a cost revolution through technological innovation and unlock efficiency through lean management, pushing new-energy commercial vehicles to accelerate into a new stage driven by the market.