Foton hired Zhuoyu for commercial-vehicle autonomy and an L3/L4 access pilot

Beiqi Foton Motor and Shenzhen Zhuoyu Technology signed a strategic cooperation agreement on October 8 covering advanced intelligent driving for commercial vehicles, Foton said on its own newsroom.

The division of labor is set out in the release. Zhuoyu supplies the models and algorithms, multi-sensor fusion and the domain controller hardware; Foton supplies whole-vehicle control, chassis adaptation and vehicle integration. Technology iteration and series production are to proceed in phases.

Six areas are named: highway and national-road navigation assist for heavy trucks, intercity highway navigation on autopilot, a driverless logistics van, urban navigation assist for light commercial vehicles, promotion of the technology in export markets, and a market-access pilot for Level 3 and Level 4 intelligent connected vehicles. The two companies also said they would jointly file for regulatory pilot applications and demonstration operations, and would jointly develop the Middle East, South American and Australasian markets.

Foton general manager Lu Zhenghua described the agreement as a step in a strategy of moving the company from commercial-vehicle manufacturer to a supplier of complete intelligent commercial-vehicle solutions. Zhuoyu chief executive Shen Shaojie said commercial-vehicle intelligence had to answer whether transport was safer, the driver’s work easier and the operating cost lower.

The release states no contract value, volume or duration, and names no specific vehicle program. Foton is listed in Shanghai and filed nothing on the agreement; its only disclosures in the window were an employee share-plan notice and a September production and sales report. Zhuoyu, which began operating as an independent company in 2023 and has since taken strategic investment of more than 3.6 billion yuan from FAW Group, is privately held, so no compelled record exists on that side.