On July 23, the first batch of Foton Kavon LeFu overseas version CAVAN C1 right-hand drive vehicles destined for Thailand were fully prepared and officially set sail at Shanghai Port. This bulk delivery marks a substantial breakthrough in Foton Kavon Auto's global strategy implementation in the core Southeast Asian market after successfully delivering to European overseas market customers, further improving the brand's global market layout.

Layout Southeast Asian Market, Strengthen Regional Green Transformation Pivot

Along with the accelerating process of low-carbon development in the global transportation sector, the Southeast Asian market, with its strong market vitality and development potential, has become an important incremental track for Chinese new energy commercial vehicle exports. Foton Kavon Auto seized the trend of industry development, firmly promoted the global development strategy, listed Southeast Asia as an important sector of overseas strategic layout, and built an industrial hub for right-hand drive new energy vehicle landing.

This batch export of the Kavon LeFu overseas version — CAVAN C1 right-hand drive vehicle model is not a single phased product output, but a key step for Foton Kavon Auto to use Thailand as a strategic pivot, radiating to right-hand drive regional markets such as Malaysia and Indonesia, and building a complete three-dimensional Southeast Asian market system. This move not only landed the brand's long-term overseas layout plan, but also further promoted Chinese new energy commercial vehicle brands to go global.

Currently, Foton Kavon Auto products have been successfully sold to 25 countries and regions worldwide, forming a global market pattern with the European market as the core and coordinated development of multiple regions such as Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. At the same time, the brand has successively won multiple international authoritative access qualifications such as EU WVTA, UK GB, and Australia VTA. With rigorous high-end market certification standards, it provides intelligent, efficient, and reliable new energy logistics solutions for global users.

Deep Cultivation of Quality R&D, Establish Global Commercial Vehicle Value Benchmark

Strategy landing, quality is the foundation. Aiming at Thailand's hot and humid tropical climate, complex road conditions, right-hand drive traffic regulations, and diversified application scenarios of urban last-mile delivery, Foton Kavon Auto abandoned the extensive development mode of simple vehicle model modification, strictly implemented the localized R&D strategy of "One Area One Policy, One Country One Policy", focused on local users' actual operation pain points to carry out special deep R&D, and with the hard overseas quality that can withstand long-term market inspection, continuously consolidate overseas market reputation and win global customer trust.

Since the brand's establishment, Foton Kavon Auto has always stood on the global development vision, focusing on "Brand New Platform Architecture, Extreme Energy Efficiency Management, High-Level Intelligence, Software Defined Car", achieving systematic breakthroughs in core fields such as energy architecture, intelligent architecture, trust architecture, reshaping commercial vehicle genes with three major architectures and six major technologies, building new energy exclusive vehicle platforms covering micro, light, and heavy types, and establishing global new energy commercial vehicle value benchmarks with excellent quality.

Upgrade Overseas Mode, Build Sustainable Eco-friendly Overseas System

Product overseas is the foundation, ecosystem overseas is the core. As an exclusive new energy commercial vehicle brand under BAIC Foton, Foton Kavon Auto has always upheld the brand mission of "Make Every Kilometer Better", with the development vision of "Committed to Becoming an Internationally Leading New Energy Technology Enterprise", continuously outputting high-quality intelligent products and full-cycle supporting services, helping the global logistics and transportation industry green and low-carbon transformation.

This bulk departure of CAVAN C1 right-hand drive vehicles to Thailand is an important verification of Foton Kavon Auto's "Comprehensive Internationalization" strategy moving from layout planning to landing harvest. Relying on Thailand's perfect industrial supporting and localized after-sales service system, the brand has realized the upgrade from single product output to "Product + Service + Brand + Ecosystem" systematic overseas mode, thoroughly completing the leapfrog development from "Product Overseas" to "Ecosystem Overseas".

The successful landing of the Thailand market fully verifies Foton Kavon Auto's core global competitiveness driven by "Forward R&D + Systematic Overseas" dual core. According to the overall development plan, the brand will continue to unfold the global marketing service network, steadily achieve each stage of overseas sales targets, and plans to land in the Hannover Motor Show in Germany in September 2026, comprehensively demonstrating the hard strength of Chinese Intelligence.

Facing long-term development, Foton Kavon will continue to deeply cultivate the global overseas market, relying on country-specific regulations and standards and user operation needs to continuously iterate and optimize the new energy product matrix, and continuously improve the global marketing service ecosystem network. Always practice the brand's original intention and commitment, continuously lead the global commercial vehicle green transformation, and output technology, efficient global logistics solutions.

23 Julai, model kenderaan Foton Kaven LeFu Versi Luar Negara CAVAN C1 stereng kanan yang pertama kali dihantar ke Thailand telah siap di Pelabuhan Shanghai dan berlepas secara rasmi. Penghantaran secara massal kali ini menandakan bahawa Foton Kaven Kereta, selepas berjaya menghantar kepada pelanggan luar negara Eropah, telah mencapai pemecahan substansial dalam pelaksanaan strategi globalisasi di pasaran teras Asia Tenggara, seterusnya menyempurnakan lagi susun atur pasaran global jenama.

Melaksanakan Pasaran Asia Tenggara Memantapkan Titik Tumpuan Transformasi Hijau Kawasan

Menyertai proses pengurangan karbon dalam bidang pengangkutan global yang semakin pantas, pasaran Asia Tenggara凭借 kekuatan vitaliti pasaran dan potensi pembangunan telah menjadi laluan pengeluaran penting bagi kenderaan perniagaan tenaga elektrik baru China. Foton Kaven Kereta memanfaatkan kecenderungan perkembangan industri, memacu strategi pembangunan globalisasi dengan tegas, menjadikan Asia Tenggara sebagai bahagian penting strategi perancangan luar negara, membina pusat perindustrian bagi pelaksanaan model kenderaan tenaga elektrik stereng kanan.

Eksport massal model kenderaan tenaga elektrik stereng kanan LeFu Versi Luar Negara Kaven—CAVAN C1 kali ini bukan output produk fasa tunggal, malah merupakan langkah penting Foton Kaven Kereta menjadikan Thailand sebagai titik tumpuan strategik, meradiasi pasaran kawasan stereng kanan seperti Malaysia, Indonesia, membina sistem pasaran Asia Tenggara yang lengkap dan tiga dimensi. Tindakan ini telah melaksanakan perancangan susun atur luar negara jangka panjang jenama, dan seterusnya membantu jenama kenderaan perniagaan tenaga elektrik China ke arah global.

Pada masa ini, produk Foton Kaven Kereta telah berjaya dijual ke 25 buah negara dan kawasan di seluruh dunia, membentuk pola pasaran globalisasi dengan pasaran Eropah sebagai teras, Asia Tenggara, Australia-New Zealand dan pelbagai kawasan lain berkembang selari. Pada masa yang sama, jenama telah menerima berturut-turut pelbagai kelayakan masuk antarabangsa berwibawa seperti EU WVTA, UK GB, Australia VTA, menawarkan penyelesaian logistik tenaga elektrik baru yang pintar, berkesan, dan boleh dipercayai kepada pengguna global dengan piakuan pengesahan pasaran premium yang ketat.

Menggali Pembinaan Kualiti Menubuhkan Piaku Nilai Kenderaan Perniagaan Global

Pelaksanaan strategik, kualiti sebagai asas. Bagi iklim tropika suhu panas tinggi dan lembap Thailand, keadaan jalan raya yang kompleks, keperluan undang-undang laluan stereng kanan serta aplikasi skenario pengangkutan akhir bandar yang pelbagai, Foton Kaven Kereta membuang mod pembangunan kasar perubahan model kenderaan mudah, menganut strategi pembangunan tempatan "Satu Kawasan Satu Dasar, Satu Negara Satu Dasar" dengan ketat, memfokuskan pembangunan mendalam khusus pada poin kesakitan operasi sebenar pengguna tempatan, dengan kualiti keluar laut yang kukuh yang tahan ujian jangka panjang pasaran, terus memperkokoh reputasi pasaran luar negara dan mendapat kepercayaan pelanggan global.

Sejak jenama ditubuhkan, Foton Kaven Kereta sentiasa berlandaskan visi pembangunan globalisasi, mengelilingi "Platform Baharu, Pengurusan Kecekapan Tenaga Sempurna, Kecerdasan Tahap Tinggi, Kereta Ditakrifkan Perisian", dalam bidang teras seperti arkitektur tenaga, arkitektur pintar, arkitektur kepercayaan mencapai pemecahan sistematik, dengan tiga arkitektur, enam teknologi menyemak semula gen kenderaan perniagaan, membina platform kenderaan tenaga elektrik baru khas yang menutupi micro, ringan, berat, dengan kualiti yang luar biasa menubuhkan piaku nilai kenderaan perniagaan tenaga elektrik baru global.

Meningkatkan Mod Keluar Laut Membina Sistem Keluar Laut Ekologi Berkelanjutan

Eksport produk adalah asas, eksport ekosistem adalah teras. Sebagai jenama khas kenderaan perniagaan tenaga elektrik di bawah BAIC Foton, Foton Kaven Kereta sentiasa mengamalkan misi jenama "Memperkasi setiap kilometer menjadi lebih baik", dengan visi pembangunan "Berdedikasi menjadi perusahaan antarabangsa yang memimpin teknologi tenaga elektrik baru", terus menghasilkan produk pintar berkualiti tinggi dan perkhidmatan sokongan kitaran penuh, membantu industri logistik pengangkutan global melakukan transformasi hijau dan rendah karbon.

Eksport massal model kenderaan stereng kanan CAVAN C1 ke Thailand kali ini adalah bukti penting strategi "Peng antarabangsaan menyeluruh" Foton Kaven Kereta daripada perancangan susun atur ke pelaksanaan dan hasil. Bersandarkan pada peralatan industri yang lengkap di Thailand dan sistem perkhidmatan selepas jualan tempatan, jenama telah mencapai peningkatan mod keluar laut sistematik daripada output produk tunggal ke arah "Produk + Perkhidmatan + Jenama + Ekologi", menyelesaikan sepenuhnya pembangunan lompat dari "Eksport Produk" ke "Eksport Ekologi".

Pelaksanaan kejayaan pasaran Thailand telah mengesahkan dengan cukup daya saing global teras pemacu nuklear ganda "Pembangunan Positif + Keluar Laut Sistematik" Foton Kaven Kereta. Mengikut pelan pembangunan keseluruhan, jenama akan terus menyebarkan rangkaian perkhidmatan pemasaran global, memenuhi secara stabil sasaran jualan luar negara setiap fasa, dan merancang untuk mendarat di Pameran Kereta Hannover Jerman pada September 2026, menunjukkan secara menyeluruh kekuatan kukuh Pembuatan Cerdas China.

Untuk pembangunan jangka panjang, Foton Kaven akan terus menggali mendalam pasaran luar negara global, bersandarkan pada piawaian undang-undang setiap negara dan keperluan operasi pengguna, terus mengitar optimum matriks produk tenaga elektrik baru, sentiasa menyempurnakan rangkaian ekologi perkhidmatan pemasaran globalisasi. Sentiasa mengamalkan asal dan janji jenama, terus memimpin transformasi hijau kenderaan perniagaan global, mengeluarkan penyelesaian logistik global yang berteknologi, berkesan.

[First Commercial Vehicle Network Original]

Since the beginning of this year, Foton Motor's overseas business has continued the strong growth trend of last year, and the "Comprehensive Internationalization" strategy has entered a new phase.

In May 2026, Foton Motor's total sales exceeded 58,000 units, up 17.3% year-on-year; among them, overseas sales broke through again, with a single-month sales volume of 18,000 units, up 64.3% year-on-year. Cumulative sales from January to May reached 89,000 units, up 38% year-on-year, continuing to lead China's commercial vehicle exports. This report card is not only a rise in numbers but also the inevitable result of its years of adhering to strategic stability and deepening localized operations, marking that Foton's globalization process has steadily entered the harvest period of high-quality development.

For details, please refer to the latest report brought by First Commercial Vehicle Network.

Structural Growth Drives May Sales to New Highs

In May, Foton Motor's overseas single-month sales exceeded 18,000 units, up 64.3% year-on-year, continuing to lead the Chinese commercial vehicle overseas export industry. Cumulatively, from January to May 2026, Foton's total overseas exports exceeded 89,000 units, up 38% year-on-year, maintaining strong growth momentum on the basis of last year's high base, showing the resilience and vitality of its global market layout. This series of positive signals has laid a solid foundation for achieving its annual overseas goals.

Behind the high growth is the continuous optimization of the export structure and the full-scale effort of high-value-added models. The May data continued the strong momentum of the previous high-end transformation, among which the high-end product line represented by Auman heavy trucks grew particularly outstanding. In May, driven by large order deliveries in strategic markets such as Africa and Central Asia, the Auman heavy truck product line's growth also reached a new high. In addition, Foton Cavan CAVAN C1 recently appeared at the German IFAT Exhibition, receiving high attention from the European market, and also added support for the export of high-end new energy products.

From the perspective of regional markets, Foton's global map presents a gratifying situation of "blooming in multiple points and comprehensive breakthroughs". The high-end strategy in the European market has shown initial results. With the brand effect brought by the TUNLAND V9 pickup winning international awards, as well as the batch delivery of electric light trucks in Spain, European orders continued to maintain high growth from January to May. In Africa, with the successive delivery of the Dangote Group's order of more than a thousand trucks in Nigeria, and the capacity release of the local factory in South Africa, Foton has become a key participant in infrastructure construction and logistics transportation in that region. This full-spectrum breakthrough from points to surfaces, from traditional power to new energy, makes the foundation of Foton's overseas market growth more solid.

Localization Operations Build Competitive Barriers

The secret to sales continuously leading lies in Foton's deep insight into overseas market laws and the solid cultivation of "long-termism". Unlike simple trade models, Foton takes "putting global scenarios into the database" as the origin of product competitiveness. Relying on overseas technology centers spread across the globe, Foton has established a "Global Adaptability Compendium" covering 59 countries and 140 high-frequency markets, transforming 16 typical scenarios such as high temperature, high cold, and dusty into technical standards of 49 key modules and 91 quantitative performance elements, thereby ensuring that every product launched overseas can accurately adapt to local complex working conditions and user habits.

This R&D model based on big data and scenario-driven makes Foton thoroughly say goodbye to "passive fire-fighting" style after-sales rectification. For example, for the heavy load and long downhill operating conditions in the African market, Foton started from selection and verification requirements and provided a complete solution for heavy truck models; and in the high-temperature desert environment in Saudi Arabia, by optimizing the air conditioning system and thermal management scheme, the cooling effect of the bus was significantly improved. It is this extreme pursuit of details that made Foton products win the trust of global top customers such as Dangote Group and Central Asian port operators, continuously winning thousand-level large orders, and converting technical standards into real market share.

More critically, Foton's localization operations have been upgraded from "product adaptability improvement" to "whole industry chain rooting". Whether in manufacturing bases in Brazil and Thailand, or KD factories in South Africa and Saudi Arabia, Foton has not only achieved localized production but also driven the full localization of supply chains, services, and talent. In South Africa, relying on the Port Elizabeth factory, Foton provided customized heavy truck and pickup products for the local area; in Thailand, the launch of the 2000th heavy truck marked that it had deeply integrated into the local logistics system. In March this year, Foton and COSCO SHIPPING Special Carriers established a joint company to build a self-controllable sea transport supply chain system, further consolidating the logistics base for global development. This deeply bound industrial ecosystem effectively avoids trade barriers and builds a "moat" that competitors find difficult to replicate in the short term.

"Comprehensive Internationalization" Strategy Leads to Accelerate towards World-Class Commercial Vehicle Enterprises

From "Product Going Global" to "Brand Going Global", and then to "Ecosystem Going Global", Foton Motor's clear strategic path is the key to its continuous leadership in the industry. Facing global industrial changes, Foton firmly promotes the "Comprehensive Internationalization" strategy, positioning overseas business as the core growth pole and giving resource allocation. Since 2026, Foton has steadily promoted strategic execution, achieving rapid response to global market demands by strengthening the collaborative efficiency of market, product, service, and technology platforms.

Looking to the future, Foton's global layout is still pushing towards depth—in the industrial end, the local factories in key markets such as Indonesia and Saudi Arabia will accelerate production, and the local matching ratio of key components will also be further improved. This not only helps reduce production costs and risks but also deeply integrates into the local industrial chain, transforming from a purely vehicle enterprise to a provider of regional traffic solutions. At the same time, Foton is actively collaborating with excellent domestic supply chain partners to "go out together" and jointly build a more resilient global industrial system.

In terms of technology and products, Foton's "Comprehensive New Energy" and "Comprehensive Intelligentization" strategies are accelerating to extend overseas. Relying on independent three-electric core technologies, Foton is accelerating the promotion of electric, hybrid, and fuel cell commercial vehicle products' overseas coverage, and deeply integrating intelligent technologies with local needs. From the pure electric light truck eMiler listed in Singapore and the new generation medium truck Auman D series, to the TUNLAND V series hybrid pickups landing in Europe, Foton's high-end and new energy product matrix has been implemented in multiple overseas regions. Recently, the Foton brand officially landed in Suriname, further improving its strategic layout in Central America and the Caribbean. It can be foreseen that with the continuous promotion of the strategy, Foton will not only lead in sales volume but also occupy a more core position in the global commercial vehicle value chain.

Concluding Remarks

Looking back from the bright performance in May, Foton Motor's globalization journey has entered the fast lane. It has proved by practice that Chinese commercial vehicle enterprises are fully capable of competing with international giants on the global stage with technological innovation and systemized operations. Time has passed half of 2026, and Foton's overseas business is going towards the annual goal with an irresistible momentum.

The domestic passenger car market has been sluggish since the beginning of this year. Wholesale sales declined 6% year-on-year in the first five months; if exports are excluded, retail sales declined even more by 19% year-on-year.

In sharp contrast to passenger cars, commercial vehicles achieved double-digit growth in sales from January to May, outperforming passenger cars year-on-year and exceeding market expectations.

The performance of leading enterprises was even more impressive. Foton Motor sold 58,000 units in May, ranking first in the industry, with a year-on-year growth of 17.3%. Cumulative sales from January to May exceeded 300,000 units, ranking first in the industry, with a year-on-year growth of 10%.

Among them, light truck sales in May reached 36,000 units, growing 10% year-on-year. Cumulative sales from January to May were nearly 200,000 units, ranking first in the industry for over a decade consecutively.

Heavy truck sales in May reached 16,000 units, surging 37% year-on-year. Cumulative sales from January to May were 76,000 units, growing 37.2% year-on-year, the fastest growth rate among the top five industry leaders.

New energy vehicle sales in May exceeded 12,000 units, surging 52.6% year-on-year. Cumulative sales from January to May exceeded 45,000 units, ranking second in the industry.

May exports exceeded 17,000 units, surging over 64.3% year-on-year, accounting for 30% of the month's sales. Cumulative exports from January to May were nearly 90,000 units, growing 38% year-on-year, ranking first in the industry for 15 consecutive years.

The data shows that the high growth of Foton Motor in May and the first five months is supported by four factors: light trucks continue to lead, heavy trucks grow significantly, new energy vehicles explode across the board, and exports lead and surge.

Foton achieved such impressive data primarily due to the recovery of the economic environment and demand. In terms of heavy trucks, domestic infrastructure construction accelerated, National III replacement for dump trucks and tractors was implemented, and demand for engineering heavy trucks and express tractors was strong, driving May heavy truck sales to grow positively for the fifth consecutive month year-on-year.

In terms of light trucks, peak seasons for express delivery, fresh cold chain, and urban distribution logistics continued, rural-urban freight demand recovered, and national monthly light truck sales stabilized at a high level above 160,000 units, with a robust demand base.

Secondly, Foton's product matrix is complete, with new products and high-end models gaining volume. For heavy trucks, there are Auman Galaxy (9, 7, 5, 3, T) high-end products and Xingyi + Xinghui models for volume, natural gas heavy trucks and battery swap heavy trucks targeting mining areas and trunk logistics markets. Foton Konwei power's fuel-saving advantages are highlighted, high-end heavy truck average prices increased while sales doubled. New energy heavy trucks with full technology routes (pure electric, hybrid, hydrogen fuel) are launched, vehicle-battery separation leasing lowers user purchase thresholds, driving explosive growth in new energy heavy trucks.

For light trucks, relying on the Auling, Aumark, and Time brand matrix and product differentiation to cover the market in layers. Fuel versions focus on cost-performance, new energy versions adapt to urban distribution restriction policies. Coverage ranges from 3.5-ton blue plate to heavy-duty yellow plate. Lightweight body optimized for new blue plate regulations, solving user registration pain points. Zhilan models and Qimingxing pure electric new products were stocked in May, becoming the core source of light truck volume growth.

Regarding new energy, many places nationwide implemented urban fuel truck restrictions, new energy vehicle purchase subsidies, and priority road rights policies. Electric delivery logistics in first-tier cities accelerated. Foton's "New Energy 30·50 Strategy" was implemented, partnering with Huawei Digital Power to build supercharging networks and co-investing with EVE Energy for battery leasing. The vehicle-battery separation model significantly reduces new energy vehicle down payments. In May, new energy light trucks and heavy trucks became the largest source of volume growth.

Additionally, Foton's channel downward move and marketing reform further drove sales through distributor network advantages. Foton has over 3000 sales networks and 10000+ service networks nationwide, extending from counties to township terminals. Time series target third and fourth-tier lines and rural freight, Auling targets city logistics, Aumark focuses on high-end cold chain, with segmented channels precisely split. In May, terminal purchase interest subsidies and financial zero-down payment policies were launched. Relying on light truck products' low maintenance and high fuel-saving TCO advantages, amidst competitor price wars, they gained orders in reverse trend through service and product strength, continuously capturing competitor lost customers.

Finally, exports growing 64% year-on-year and accounting for 30% of the month's sales was Foton's biggest highlight in May.

Overseas Markets Bloom Across the Board

Overseas markets are Foton's traditional strength. Starting from 2011, it became China's number one commercial vehicle exporter, and Foton has never let this title slip away.

In the first four months of this year, Foton whole vehicle exports grew 32% year-on-year, with overseas market share at 17.5%. In May, large batches of light trucks, buses, and pickups were sent to Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America. Electric buses were delivered in batches to Australia, making overseas volume growth more significant.

From the export product structure perspective, heavy trucks mainly Auman grew significantly, May exports exceeded 2,000 units, growing 42.6% year-on-year. Ouhang and Aumark models were even more dramatic, overseas sales exceeded 4,600 units, surging 280% year-on-year. Time and Pickup grew by 47.4% and 60% respectively.

Cumulative exports from January to May exceeded nearly 90,000 units, growing 38% year-on-year, firmly maintaining the lead in domestic commercial vehicle exports.

From the export regional distribution perspective, benefiting from the RCEP tariff exemption policy implementation in Southeast Asia, urban distribution and cold chain demand exploded in Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Foton Thailand Factory mass-produced right-hand drive light trucks have radiated to Southeast Asian countries, with Auling and Aumark high-end light trucks selling hot.

Africa is the region with the highest export growth rate for Foton. In 2025, Foton sales in the African region grew over 120% year-on-year. In the first quarter of 2026, sales grew 96% year-on-year. Foton Heavy Commercial products were deeply customized and calibrated for Africa's complex road conditions, fuel consumption performance benchmarks European top brands, lowest fuel consumption among domestic commercial vehicles of the same level, balancing power performance and operating costs, perfectly adapted to high-intensity operation scenarios such as cross-border logistics and mine transportation. In May, Heavy Commercial product exports broke 1,000 units, doubling year-on-year, full category exports in January-May broke 10,000 units. Infrastructure and mineral development in countries like Nigeria, Kenya, and Ethiopia drove whole vehicle procurement, relying on 12 local factories to ship whole vehicles and spare parts simultaneously.

In the Middle East region, relying on Saudi Arabia and UAE energy infrastructure and intercity logistics upgrades, Auman high-horsepower tractors and dump trucks signed contracts in batches and landed. Hybrid heavy trucks increased volume relying on local new energy subsidies.

Europe and Australia issued commercial vehicle carbon emission controls, accelerating the elimination of old diesel vehicles. Foton high-end new energy products achieved breakthroughs in Europe and Australia. Toano electric VANs were bulk purchased by Germany and Italy, raising overseas vehicle profitability levels.

Behind Foton's high export growth is the result of long-term sustained deep diving into overseas markets.

For example, in terms of R&D center count, there are 10 domestically and 8 overseas. Manufacturing bases are 20 domestically and 32 overseas, widely distributed in Southeast Asia, Europe, North America, South America, and Africa. Sales and services cover over 140 countries and regions, with overseas sales networks exceeding 1,200 and service networks exceeding 1,500.

Overseas R&D bases cooperate with domestic R&D to localize exported products. For example, optimize chassis and power for overseas road conditions. Aumark high-end light trucks adapt to Southeast Asia cold chain, Auman high-horsepower heavy trucks match Middle East infrastructure, hybrid and pure electric models adapt to overseas new energy subsidy policies.

In production and manufacturing, local factories in multiple countries have started production, reducing tariff costs and shortening delivery cycles. Pickups and light trucks rely on localized production to quickly seize cost-performance markets.

Regarding new energy, Foton fully self-developed three-electric systems, covering pure electric, hybrid, and hydrogen fuel technology routes. The entire series of new energy commercial vehicles passed EU and Australia's strict certifications. 2.2C fast charging and other technologies became differentiated selling points to expand market recognition.

In the coming months, production lines at new local factories in Brazil and Ethiopia will continue to ramp up. Southeast Asian rainy season cold chain stocking, Africa second half infrastructure construction, Foton exports are expected to continue the high-growth trend.

In the medium to long term, European new energy commercial vehicle penetration rates continue to rise, Latin American import substitution demand is released, helping overseas share stabilize above 30%, diversifying domestic stock market competition pressure, and improving a sustainable and healthy global layout.

This is the best of times, this is the worst of times.

Recently, the China Association of Automobile Dealers released some worrying data. The auto dealer inventory warning index for April stood at 62.1%, above the growth and decline line; meanwhile, the inventory coefficient is also rising, with the integrated inventory coefficient for auto dealers in April reaching 1.89. Industry insiders point out that long-term high inventory will encroach on dealers' operating funds, increase their interest expenses and liquidity risks, and may exacerbate the contradiction between dealers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

Coincidentally, it is not just passenger cars that have been hit hard. The latest data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers has also sounded a warning for the commercial vehicle industry—its overall inventory coefficient has risen above the warning line of 1.8, and the inventory cycle in some heavy truck market segments has exceeded 90 days. To digest inventory, a new round of price wars has quietly broken out in multiple regions, with terminal discount margins expanding again.

As a media outlet that has long focused on the automotive industry, Car Culture saw a historical mirror spanning 170 years in this spreading price competition—In 1854, the 'Coketown' dominated by interests written by Charles Dickens in 'Hard Times' has never truly disappeared.

As the global automotive industry accelerates its transformation towards new energy and intelligence, and Chinese automakers head to the global market at an unprecedented speed, ESG construction has long ceased to be a dispensable decoration in corporate annual reports; it is now a core capability determining whether an enterprise can weather the cycle. Among them, supply chain ESG is the key chain connecting the upstream and downstream of the industry, determining the health of the sector. In the current situation where the industry generally falls into the vicious cycle of 'trading price for volume', the sustainability report released by Foton Motor for 2025 provides a sample worthy of in-depth analysis for us to observe how Chinese commercial vehicle enterprises solve the inherent contradictions of industrial civilization.

The Reenactment of Dickensian History and Foton's Starting Point for Breakthrough

In classic works such as 'Hard Times', 'Oliver Twist', and 'David Copperfield', Dickens recorded the three core contradictions at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution with a pen that was almost journalistic documentary. Among them, in 'Hard Times', the factory owners in Coketown, in pursuit of profit maximization, alienated workers into attachments of machines, revealing the value distortion caused by capital's pursuit of profit; in 'Oliver Twist', the tragic fate of children from the lower classes exposed the reality that the dignity of workers was systematically ignored; the experience of 10-year-old David being exploited in the bottle washing factory in 'David Copperfield' reflected the cruel logic of cost pressure being transmitted unidirectionally downward in early supply chains.

These contradictions from 170 years ago still have clear projections in today's automotive industry. Taking the commercial vehicle industry discussed in this session as an example, from 2024 to 2025, the price war in the commercial vehicle market continued to escalate, with terminal price reductions for models in some market segments exceeding 10%. To maintain its own profits, some leading automotive enterprises directly transferred cost reduction pressure to upstream suppliers, requesting annual price reductions of more than 10%.

The result of this pressure being transmitted layer by layer is that the average profit margin of traditional non-core component enterprises was compressed to below 3%, with a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises struggling on the brink of break-even; downstream channel ends were also under pressure. Data from the China Association of Automobile Dealers shows that in 2025, the loss-making rate of commercial vehicle dealers nationwide reached 52.6%, with a profit contribution of -22.3% for new car sales business; while truck drivers at the end of the supply chain bore the pressure of continuously falling freight prices, with freight rates for some short-distance city distribution routes falling to 0.8 yuan/km, and the average freight rate for medium-to-long distance trunk transport dropping 42% compared to 2020.

This model of 'squeezing profits upstream, pressing prices downstream, and being squeezed at the terminal' is eroding the long-term competitiveness of the entire industry. Of course, Foton Motor is also in this industry environment. Its overseas exports in 2025 reached 164,000 vehicles, creating a new historical high, but it also faced multiple challenges such as the EU CBAM carbon tariff and increasingly strict supply chain ESG reviews in European and American markets; during the new energy transformation process, the industry average cost proportion of the three-electric systems exceeded 40%, and also faced cost reduction pressure.

But unlike most enterprises, Foton Motor did not choose to transfer pressure unidirectionally to the upstream and downstream of the supply chain, but instead took the construction of the whole chain ESG as the core handle for breaking the situation, attempting to explore a more sustainable development path.

Foton's Practice: Responding to Historical Propositions with Win-Win of the Whole Value Chain

The contemporary value of Dickens' works lies in the fact that it always reminds us that the ultimate purpose of development is people, not profit. The whole value chain ESG system built by Foton Motor, covering 'upstream suppliers-middle manufacturing-downstream dealers-terminal users', just responds to the three core propositions raised by Dickens back then.

To address the value distortion caused by capital's pursuit of profit, Foton constructs a symbiotic supply chain through green synergy. It is reported that the company established a supplier lifecycle ESG management system, incorporating environmental, social, and governance indicators into the entire process of supplier access, audit, evaluation, and exit. In 2025, Foton completed the certification of 58 green suppliers, covering core modules such as engines, gearboxes, and axles.

Unlike simply suppressing purchase prices, Foton helps suppliers reduce costs and increase efficiency through technical empowerment and resource sharing. Among them, the supplier rooftop photovoltaic plan is the most representative. In 2025, it assisted 283 suppliers in building a total of 1,901 MW of photovoltaic power generation facilities, directly reducing the energy costs of partners, while also promoting the low-carbon transformation of the entire supply chain.

To address the imbalance of benefit distribution in the supply chain, Foton creates a community of interests through ecological empowerment. Faced with the survival dilemma faced by dealers, Foton completed transformation training for 1,658 dealers in 2025, innovatively launched a three-level channel system of 'Ecological Store, Smart Store, Retail Store', and built 8 dealer ecological ports.

This system helped dealers transform from a single vehicle sales dealer to a comprehensive service provider integrating 'sales + charging and battery swapping + used cars + leasing + maintenance and repair', opening up multiple profit channels for them. At the same time, Foton signed 'Integrity Commitment Letters' with all suppliers, establishing a relatively fair and transparent cooperation mechanism, guaranteeing the reasonable interests of each link in the supply chain.

In addition, to address the lack of dignity for workers, Foton permeates humanistic care throughout the whole chain. Within the enterprise, Foton implements a human engineering improvement plan, introducing customized effort-saving mechanical arms and hydraulic lifting tables in heavy labor posts such as tire assembly and battery installation, reducing manual handling of heavy materials by 30% year-on-year.

At the supply chain end, Foton requires all suppliers to strictly abide by labor laws and regulations, with full coverage of compliance and quality training for key suppliers in 2025 reaching 100%. At the terminal, Foton supported the 'Truck Driver Escort' special action through donations, focusing on the living conditions of logistics practitioners. These measures reflect the enterprise's respect for every worker in the supply chain.

People-Oriented, The Correct Approach for Chinese Cars Going Global

In fact, with Chinese automotive enterprises accelerating their global layout, we are facing not just a competitive pattern of 'price is king', but entering a new era where 'compliance is competitiveness'.

The EU 'Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive' (CSDDD) clearly requires that enterprises must be responsible for human rights and environmental impacts of their entire supply chain; violators will face fines of up to 5% of global turnover; the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) officially implemented in 2026 directly incorporates carbon emission costs into the price system of imported goods. This means the development model relying on low-cost expansion is unsustainable, and supply chain ESG capabilities are becoming the pass to enter the international market for Chinese automotive enterprises.

Foton Motor's forward-looking layout has given it a certain head start in global competition. It is reported that through the construction of a whole value chain ESG, Foton proactively met the compliance requirements of major overseas markets: in Europe, Foton's electric light trucks and VAN models obtained WVTAEU whole vehicle type certification, which is one of the highest thresholds in the European market; plus the EU heavy vehicle carbon emission VECTO certification, this means Foton's carbon data has been recognized by European regulatory agencies, successfully entering the European green transportation system.

In addition, Foton Motor has deeply gained the recognition of global partners: local factories in Thailand, Brazil, and South Africa have been put into production smoothly; the global 12 millionth vehicle rolled off the line at the Brazil factory; in the Australian and African markets, Foton received bulk new energy bus orders; in the Middle East, it delivered 1,000 customized school buses to Saudi customers in batches.

Industry analysts point out that Foton Motor's model provides an important reference for the Chinese commercial vehicle industry; supply chain ESG is not a cost burden for enterprises, but an effective means to enhance supply chain resilience and long-term competitiveness. When enterprises no longer view upstream and downstream as opponents in a game, but as partners for joint growth, the results of their development can be shared by every participant in the supply chain, and the entire industry can achieve truly high-quality development.

Car Culture Says:

'This is the best of times, this is the worst of times.' Dickens' famous quote still applies to China's automotive industry today. We possess the world's largest automotive market, the most complete industrial chain system, and the most advanced new energy technology; this is the best of times; but we also face many challenges such as involution in price wars, prominence of supply chain contradictions, and increased pressure for global compliance; this is the worst of times.

170 years have passed, the technical form of industrial civilization has undergone earth-shaking changes, but how to balance capital pursuit of profit with social equity, and how to ensure that the results of development benefit everyone, remains the fundamental question we need to answer. Foton Motor's practice tells us that ESG is not only a digital report, but a more sustainable development concept with more humanistic touch. When more and more Chinese automotive enterprises plant the concept of people-oriented into supply chain construction, we can not only create more competitive products, but also output a fairer and more inclusive industrial civilization to the world, allowing Chinese automobiles to truly enjoy global reputation with the 'Chinese Solution'. （Written by | Ouyang）