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

On June 22, BAIC Foton and ZF achieved another major milestone in their strategic cooperation — the first AxTrax 2 e-drive axle rolled off the production line at their joint venture factory in Jiaxing, marking a critical step forward in BAIC Foton's mastery of core components for new energy 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 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, 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 Aligning with Industry Transformation Trends, Strategic Layout Bears Fruit

The automotive industry is undergoing a once-in-a-century transformation, with electrification and intelligent technologies sweeping the globe. During China's "15th Five-Year Plan" period (2026-2030), the domestic commercial vehicle market is expected to stabilize at around 3.2 million units annually, 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 independence a strategic priority for nations and accelerating the transition of commercial vehicles from fuel-driven to electric-driven systems.

Based on this deep insight into industry trends, BAIC Foton and ZF signed a strategic agreement in April 2023, introducing ZF's latest e-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 is now officially rolling off the production line at the joint venture factory, transforming this strategic blueprint into reality.

As ZF's next-generation integrated e-drive axle platform for commercial vehicles, the AxTrax 2 can be applied to medium and heavy-duty vehicles, replacing engines, transmissions, driveshafts, differentials, and conventional axles with a modular design to achieve commercial vehicle electrification. The product rolling off the line features a 930V silicon carbide inverter, delivering 210kW continuous power output and 26,000 N·m peak torque, equipped with a 3-speed transmission and electronic shift actuator. Its compact design maximizes battery layout 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 Continues to Empower, Partnership Reaches New Heights

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

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

First, to continue technological leadership by fully leveraging ZF's global technology advantages and BAIC Foton's vehicle application scenarios, accelerating the efficient transformation of e-drive axle technology from R&D reserves to commercial delivery;

Second, to deepen customer value by focusing on key scenarios such as line-haul logistics and regional transportation, accelerating the transformation from "product delivery" to "customer profitability";

Third, to promote localization and cost reduction by leveraging the resilience and scale advantages of the domestic supply chain, accelerating component localization so that globally-proven e-drive axles can benefit customers with better cost performance, helping new energy commercial vehicles accelerate from "policy-driven" to "market-driven" growth.

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

At the key juncture of the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the mass production of the AxTrax 2 e-drive axle represents another significant achievement in BAIC Foton's advancement of its three major strategies: "Comprehensive Internationalization, Comprehensive New Energy, and Comprehensive Intelligence." Facing the industry trends of deep integration of electrification and intelligence, and the restructuring of the global landscape, BAIC Foton is building vertically integrated advantages in core components such as batteries, e-drive systems, and electronic controls, leveraging key technologies.

The official production launch of the AxTrax 2 e-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 e-drive technology in China's commercial vehicle industry. Going forward, the BAIC Foton-ZF transmission joint venture factory will continue to drive cost revolution through technological innovation and explore efficiency space through lean management, accelerating the new energy commercial vehicle sector toward a new stage of market-driven growth.