Who Owns Foton?

BAIC Foton Motor was founded on August 28, 1996, in Beijing as a consolidation of commercial vehicle assets gathered under the BAIC umbrella. The name Foton was chosen for its similarity to "photon," signaling speed and modernity. In 1998, only two years after its founding, the company listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, giving it early access to public capital that funded rapid capacity expansion.

Through the early 2000s, Foton built a full commercial vehicle lineup covering light trucks, heavy trucks, vans, and buses. The Aumark light truck and Ollin small truck families became volume sellers in China's booming logistics sector. Foton quickly became the country's largest light commercial vehicle maker by volume, a position it has held for most of the past two decades.

A major partnership arrived in 2012 when Foton and Daimler AG formed Beijing Foton Daimler Automotive, a 50-50 joint venture to build Auman heavy trucks. The deal gave Foton access to Daimler's heavy truck technology, including the Mercedes-Benz OM 457 engine licensed for Auman models, and gave Daimler a low-cost manufacturing base in China. A dedicated Foton Daimler plant in Beijing's Huairou district opened with capacity for premium heavy trucks aimed at both Chinese and export markets.

Foton was an early mover in electrified commercial vehicles. It delivered electric buses for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and has since expanded into electric vans, trucks, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. International expansion accelerated in the 2010s, with assembly operations established in Southeast Asia, South America, Africa, and the Middle East. Pickup trucks under the Tunland and later General and Mars lines pushed Foton into the fast-growing global midsize pickup segment, competing directly with JAC, Great Wall, and SAIC Maxus.

In 2025, Foton sold 650,100 vehicles, up 5.85 percent, including 101,200 new energy vehicles (up 87.2 percent) and 164,500 exports (up 7.3 percent). Revenue reached RMB 61.25 billion, up 28.4 percent, while net profit attributable to shareholders surged to RMB 1.36 billion from RMB 81 million a year earlier, driven by new energy volume, exports, and cost reductions.