BAIC Foton and ZF's Strategic Partnership Bears Fruit Again: First AxTrax 2 e-Drive Axle Rolls Off the Production Line

On June 22, the strategic partnership between BAIC Foton and ZF bore fruit once again — the first AxTrax 2 e-drive axle rolled off the production line at the joint venture factory in Jiaxing, marking a critical milestone in BAIC Foton's mastery of key core components in the new energy commercial vehicle sector, transitioning from strategic planning to tangible 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, and Chairman of BAIC Foton; Lu Zhenghua, Secretary of the Party Committee and General Manager of BAIC Foton; Cui Shipeng, Vice President of BAIC Foton and Chairman of ZF Foton; Andreas Moser, Member of the ZF Board of Management and Head of the Commercial Vehicle Solutions and Industrial Technology divisions; along with hundreds of guests from government, shareholders, partners, and media gathered to witness this milestone moment.

01 Adapting to the Trend of Industrial Transformation, Strategic Layout Bears Fruit

The automotive industry is currently undergoing a transformation of a magnitude unseen in a century, with electrification and intelligentization 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 new energy penetration projected to reach 50% by 2030, and L2+ level intelligent driving in commercial vehicles reaching 30%. Meanwhile, geopolitical dynamics are reshaping the global energy supply chain, making energy self-sufficiency a strategic priority for nations worldwide, accelerating the commercial vehicle industry's transition from fuel-driven to electric-driven systems.

Based on this deep 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 based in Jiaxing. After three years of meticulous construction and preparation, the AxTrax 2 e-drive axle officially rolled off the production line at the joint venture factory, turning this strategic blueprint into reality.

As ZF's integrated e-drive axle platform designed for the next generation of commercial vehicles, the AxTrax 2 can be applied to medium and heavy-duty vehicles. Its modular design replaces the engine, transmission, driveshaft, differential, and conventional axle, enabling complete electrification of commercial vehicles. The product features a 930V silicon carbide inverter, 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. While its compact design maximizes battery layout space, it achieves full synchronization with vehicle braking, ADAS, and autonomous driving systems, providing an efficient and intelligent system solution for the electrification transformation of commercial vehicles.

02 Jiaxing Base Continues to Empower, Joint Venture Cooperation Reaches New Heights

Since BAIC Foton and ZF established a joint venture company in Jiaxing in 2017, their cooperation has continued to deepen. To date, the BAIC Foton and ZF transmission joint venture factory has achieved cumulative sales of 20 billion RMB. With its advanced production systems and intelligent equipment, the Jiaxing base is becoming an important manufacturing, R&D, and functional headquarters base for ZF in the Asia-Pacific region. The official rollout of the AxTrax 2 e-drive axle represents a crucial step in extending the partnership from traditional transmission领域 to the electric drive field.

In his speech, Lu Zhenghua expressed sincere gratitude to the Jiaxing Municipal Party Committee, Municipal Government, Economic Development Zone, and relevant departments for their long-term care and support for the development of the BAIC Foton and ZF transmission joint venture factory, and paid high tribute to the project team and all employees who worked tirelessly day and night to overcome challenges. He noted that the new product launch is only the first step of a long journey, and put forward three expectations for the future development of the joint venture company:

First, continue technological leadership by fully leveraging ZF's global technological advantages and BAIC Foton's vehicle scenario strengths to accelerate the efficient transformation of e-drive axles from technology reserves to commercial delivery;

Second, deepen customer value by closely focusing on core scenarios such as long-haul logistics and regional transportation, accelerating the value transformation of products from "production line delivery" to "customer profitability";

Third, promote localization and cost reduction by leveraging the resilience and scale advantages of the domestic industrial chain to accelerate the localization of components, making globally-quality e-drive axles available to customers at more competitive prices, and helping new energy commercial vehicles accelerate from "policy-driven" to "market-driven" growth.

03 Aiming for the "15th Five-Year Plan", Driving Green Transformation of Commercial Vehicles

Positioned at the critical juncture of the opening year of the "15th Five-Year Plan", the mass production of the AxTrax 2 e-drive axle represents another significant achievement in BAIC Foton's promotion of the three major strategies: "Comprehensive Internationalization, Comprehensive New Energy Transition, and Comprehensive Intelligentization." Facing the industry trends of deep integration of electrification and intelligentization, and the restructuring of the global landscape, BAIC Foton is leveraging key technologies to build vertically integrated synergies in core components such as batteries, electric drives, and electronic controls.

The official production launch of the AxTrax 2 e-drive axle not only provides robust 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 and ZF transmission joint venture factory will continue to drive cost revolutions through technological innovation, explore efficiency gains through lean management, and accelerate the new energy commercial vehicle industry toward a new phase of market-driven growth.