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

On June 22, BAIC Foton and ZF's strategic partnership bore fruit once again — the first AxTrax 2 e-drive axle rolled off the production line at their joint venture factory in Jiaxing, marking a critical milestone in BAIC Foton's mastery of core new energy components for commercial vehicles and a key leap 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, 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 Group Board of Management and Head of the Commercial Vehicle Solutions and Industrial Technology Divisions; along with hundreds of guests from government, shareholders, partners, and the media gathered together to witness this milestone moment.

01 Aligning with Industrial Transformation, Strategic Planning Bears Fruit

The automotive industry is currently undergoing a transformation of unprecedented scale, with electrification and intelligentization sweeping across the globe. During the "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 expected to hit 30%. Meanwhile, geopolitical dynamics are reshaping the global energy supply chain, making energy independence a strategic priority for nations and accelerating the commercial vehicle industry's transition from fuel-driven to electric-driven powertrains.

Based on this deep insight into industry trends, in April 2023, BAIC Foton and ZF signed a strategic agreement to introduce 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 officially rolled off the production line at the joint venture factory, turning this strategic blueprint into reality.

As ZF's next-generation integrated e-drive axle platform for commercial vehicles, the AxTrax 2 is designed for medium and heavy-duty vehicles. Its modular design replaces the engine, transmission, driveshaft, differential, and conventional axle to achieve full electrification. The product that rolled off the line 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, 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 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, the partnership has continued to deepen. To date, the BAIC Foton-ZF transmission joint venture factory has achieved cumulative sales of 20 billion RMB. The Jiaxing base, with its advanced production systems and intelligent equipment, 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 key step in the extension of the partnership from traditional transmissions to the e-drive domain.

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-standing support and care for the development of the BAIC Foton-ZF transmission joint venture factory, 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 future development of the joint venture:

First, continue technological leadership by fully leveraging ZF's global technological advantages and BAIC Foton's vehicle application scenarios to accelerate the efficient transformation of the e-drive axle from technology reserve to product delivery;

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

Third, advance localization and cost reduction by leveraging the resilience and scale advantages of the domestic supply chain to accelerate component localization, allowing globally competitive e-drive axles to benefit customers at better cost-performance ratios, and helping new energy commercial vehicles accelerate from "policy-driven" to "market-driven" growth.

03 Targeting the "15th Five-Year Plan," Supporting Green Transformation of Commercial Vehicles

Standing 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 important achievement in BAIC Foton's advancement of its three major strategies: "Comprehensive Internationalization, Comprehensive New Energy, 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 including batteries, e-drives, and electronic controls.

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. Looking ahead, the BAIC Foton-ZF transmission joint venture factory will continue to drive cost revolution through technological innovation, unlock efficiency gains through lean management, and accelerate the new energy commercial vehicle industry toward a new stage of market-driven growth.