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

On June 22, the strategic partnership between BAIC Foton and ZF bore new fruit — the first AxTrax 2 electric drive axle produced at the two companies' joint venture plant officially rolled off the line in Jiaxing, marking a decisive step for BAIC Foton in seizing key influence over core components for new-energy commercial vehicles and achieving a critical leap from strategic planning to real-world implementation. Zhang Lan, Secretary of the Party Working Committee and Director of the Management Committee of the 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 the Commercial Vehicle Solutions and Industrial Technology Divisions, together with hundreds of guests from government, both shareholder sides, partners, and the media, gathered to witness this milestone moment.

01   Aligning with Industrial Transformation — Strategic Layout Bears Fruit

Today, the automotive industry is undergoing changes unseen in a century, with the waves of electrification and intelligentization sweeping the globe. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, China's 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 independence has risen to a strategic priority for nations worldwide, compelling the commercial vehicle industry to accelerate its transition from fuel-driven to electric-driven powertrains.

Based on this profound insight into industry trends, in April 2023 BAIC Foton and ZF signed a strategic agreement 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 has officially rolled off the line at the joint venture plant, transforming 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 continuous output power of 210 kW and peak torque of 26,000 N·m. It features a 3-speed transmission and electronic shift actuator, maximizing available battery packaging space through a compact design while achieving full synchronization with the vehicle's braking, ADAS, and autonomous driving systems — providing an efficient, intelligent system solution for the electrification transformation 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, cooperation between the two parties has continuously deepened. To date, the BAIC Foton–ZF transmission joint venture plant has cumulatively generated RMB 20 billion in sales. 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 traditional transmissions 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 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 stated 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, continue to lead through technology — fully leverage ZF's global technological strengths and BAIC Foton's vehicle-application scenario advantages to accelerate the efficient conversion of electric drive axle technology from R&D reserves to commercial delivery.

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

Third, advance localization and cost reduction with efficiency gains — relying on the resilience of China's domestic industrial chain and economies of scale, accelerate the localization of components so that electric drive axles of global quality 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 pivotal starting point of the "15th Five-Year Plan," the mass-production roll-off of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle is another important outcome of BAIC Foton's advancement of its three major strategies: comprehensive internationalization, comprehensive new-energy transformation, and comprehensive intelligentization. Facing industry trends of deep integration between electrification and intelligentization, and the restructuring of the global landscape, BAIC Foton is using key technologies as its lever to build a vertically integrated synergy advantage across core components such as batteries, electric drives, and electronic controls.

The official launch of production for 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, accelerating new-energy commercial vehicles into a new stage driven by the market.