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 achieved another milestone — the first AxTrax 2 electric drive axle rolled off the production line at their joint venture factory in Jiaxing. This marks a critical leap for BAIC Foton in gaining key influence in the new energy core components sector for commercial vehicles, realizing the transition from strategic planning to practical 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 Secretary of the Party Committee and General Manager of BAIC Group, 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 Management and Head of Commercial Vehicle Solutions and Industrial Technology Divisions; along with hundreds of guests from government, both shareholder parties, partners, and media, gathered together to witness this milestone moment.

01 Adapting to Industry Transformation, Strategic Layout Bears Fruit

The automotive industry is currently experiencing an unprecedented transformation, with electrification and intelligent technologies sweeping the globe. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, China's commercial vehicle market is expected to stabilize at around 3.2 million units, with new energy penetration projected to reach 50% by 2030 and L2+ level intelligent driving to reach 30% in commercial vehicles. Meanwhile, geopolitical dynamics are reshaping global energy supply chains, and energy independence has become a strategic priority for nations, pushing the commercial vehicle industry to accelerate its transition from fuel-driven to electric-driven powertrains.

Based on this deep understanding of 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 officially rolled off the line at the joint venture factory, marking the transformation of this strategic vision from blueprint to reality.

As ZF's integrated electric drive axle platform designed for next-generation commercial vehicles, AxTrax 2 can be applied to medium and heavy-duty vehicles, replacing engines, transmissions, drive shafts, differentials, and conventional axles with a modular design to achieve commercial vehicle electrification. The product unveiled at this event features a silicon carbide inverter on a 930V platform, with continuous output power of 210 kW, peak torque of 26,000 N·m, a 3-speed transmission with electronic gear shift actuator. Its compact design maximizes battery placement space while achieving full synchronization with vehicle braking, ADAS, and autonomous driving systems, providing an efficient and intelligent system solution for commercial vehicle electrification.

02 Jiaxing Base Continuously Empowers, Joint Venture Reaches New Heights

Since BAIC Foton and ZF established their joint venture in Jiaxing in 2017, cooperation between the two parties has deepened continuously. To date, the BAIC Foton-ZF transmission joint venture factory has achieved cumulative sales of 20 billion yuan. The Jiaxing base, with its advanced production systems and intelligent equipment, is becoming an important manufacturing, R&D, and functional headquarters for ZF in the Asia-Pacific region. The official rollout of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle represents a key step in extending cooperation from traditional transmissions to electric drive technology.

Lu Zhenghua expressed sincere gratitude to the Jiaxing Municipal Party Committee, Municipal Government, Economic Development Zone, and relevant departments for their long-standing care and support for the joint venture factory's development, and paid high tribute to the project team and all employees who worked day and night to overcome challenges. He stated that the rollout of the new product is only the first step of a long journey and put forward three expectations for the joint venture's future development:

First, continue to lead through technology, fully leveraging ZF's global technology advantages and BAIC Foton's vehicle application scenario strengths, accelerating the efficient conversion of electric drive axles from technology reserves to commercial delivery;

Second, deepen customer value, focusing on core scenarios such as trunk logistics and regional transportation, accelerating the value conversion from "production delivery" to "customer profitability";

Third, promote localization and cost reduction with efficiency improvement, leveraging the resilience and scale advantages of the domestic supply chain to accelerate component localization, making world-class electric drive axles available at better cost-performance ratios for customers, and helping new energy commercial vehicles accelerate the transition from "policy-driven" to "market-driven."

03 Anchored to the "15th Five-Year Plan," Supporting Commercial Vehicle Green Transformation

Standing at the critical starting point of the 15th Five-Year Plan, the mass production rollout of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle is another important achievement of BAIC Foton's "Full Internationalization, Full New Energy, Full Intelligence" three major strategies. Facing the industry trend of deep integration of electrification and intelligent technology and the restructuring of global dynamics, BAIC Foton is leveraging key technologies to build vertically integrated synergistic advantages in core components including batteries, electric drives, and electronic controls.

The official production 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. In the future, the BAIC Foton-ZF transmission joint venture factory will continue to drive cost revolution through technological innovation, explore efficiency through lean management, and push new energy commercial vehicles toward a new era driven by market demand.