Recently, the January sales data for new energy commercial vehicles (NEVs) was released, and Foton Motor claimed the monthly NEV sales championship with an outstanding performance, scoring a flying start for the 2026 new year.
Specifically, Foton Motor sold 7,813 NEV units in January, a robust year-on-year increase of 10.1%, ranking first in the industry. Notably, Foton’s NEV growth is not a sudden surge of a single model, but a sweeping success across all market segments: NEV heavy-duty truck sales exceeded 2,500 units, leading the NEV heavy-duty truck track; NEV light truck sales topped 4,000 units, further consolidating its niche market advantages; and NEV light bus sales neared 1,000 units, precisely meeting the upgrading demands of the passenger transport sector. The synergetic performance of its full-range products demonstrates Foton Motor’s comprehensive competitiveness in the NEV market.
Looking back at 2025, Foton Motor’s NEV segment achieved continuous breakthroughs and growth against the trend, with its year-on-year sales growth far outpacing the industry average, laying a solid foundation in technology, products and the market. Leading the industry right at the start of 2026 not only continues its high-quality growth momentum, but also builds a strong base for the annual performance surge. This remarkable achievement is by no means accidental, but an inevitable result of Foton Motor’s dual efforts in product layout and strategic planning.
Products as the Spear: Full Matrix Layout to Seize the NEV Track
As an old Chinese saying goes, “Troops and horses move out only after sufficient provisions are in place” – this wisdom is fully embodied in Foton Motor’s NEV layout.
At the recently held Foton Motor Business Annual Conference, 72 exhibition vehicles were showcased in eight major exhibition areas, among which 48 were NEVs, accounting for a staggering 66.7%. This directly demonstrates Foton’s firm determination to transform toward electrification. From the exhibition layout, it is clear that Foton Motor has built a full-range product matrix in the NEV field, forming a comprehensive competitive advantage that can precisely match the core needs of different transportation scenarios.
Foton Motor started early and developed rapidly in NEV technology, and has long established a product system with three parallel tracks: pure electric, hybrid and hydrogen fuel, with prominent independent controllability of core components. At the turn of the year, Foton Motor rode the momentum to further expand its NEV product matrix, striving to seize the high ground of the 2026 NEV market.
In the heavy-duty truck sector, Foton’s Cavan heavy-duty truck and the all-new Auman Galaxus hybrid heavy-duty truck stand out as two core competitive products. The Kaven heavy-duty truck is based on three new architectures, and its hydrogen and electric native platform covers 15 categories of full-scenario products. It elevates the competition of NEV heavy-duty trucks from a simple range contest to an all-round competition of platform-based and modular system efficiency and scenario adaptability. The Auman Galaxus hybrid heavy-duty truck is equipped with the Super Hybrid 3.0 intelligent platform, the industry’s first full-line hybrid dedicated engine and the highest-efficiency electromechanical coupling drive system. Covering 86 transportation scenarios, it can reduce the vehicle’s energy consumption by 16~26% and increase its range by 15%, precisely meeting the core demands of long-distance trunk logistics users for cost reduction, efficiency improvement, reliability and durability.
In the urban distribution and last-mile logistics sectors, Foton’s Morning Star full-matrix products were officially launched and put into mass production. Based on four core architectures, the platform’s products achieve disruptive breakthroughs in six dimensions: intelligence, energy consumption, comfort, reliability, power and safety, focusing on extreme economy and ease of use. Adhering to the concept of “high configuration as standard” for all models, it extends services to the whole life cycle management of vehicles, truly helping users achieve “peace of mind and cost savings”.
Notably, to strengthen customer communication and allow users to intuitively experience the superior performance of its products, Foton Motor launched offline real-vehicle trials for its NEV heavy-duty trucks and Morning Star series. Addressing the pain points of transportation in northern frigid regions, the Auman Galaxus pure electric heavy-duty truck traveled 2,030 kilometers in 13 days, passing through 9 major logistics cities, facing extreme low temperatures of -35℃, successfully overcoming multiple complex working conditions and completing a comprehensive rigorous test. The Morning Star appreciation tour set sail from Fangchenggang to Dandong, galloping thousands of kilometers along China’s Golden Coastline, covering 7 urban agglomerations and 20 core hub cities. This not only verified the product quality, but also built an important bridge for deepening customer communication and realizing technology popularization.
The full-range product layout, superior performance support, and the courage to temper products under extreme working conditions – this comprehensive strength is the core confidence behind Foton’s flying start in January sales, and also the key to its continuous leadership and first-mover advantage in the NEV track.
Strategy as the Banner: Six Major Transformations to Safeguard the 200,000 NEV Sales Target
If the full-range product layout is Foton’s sharp weapon for tackling the NEV track, then a clear strategic plan and firm implementation measures are the core banner leading the enterprise to lead the industry.
At the Global Partner Conference in November 2025, Foton Motor released the Foton Motor Global Strategic Report, clarifying its medium and long-term goals: by 2030, NEVs will account for more than 50% of total sales, overseas sales will exceed 300,000 units, and Foton will strive to build a world-class commercial vehicle enterprise.
Based on accurate judgment of industry trends and its own development momentum, Foton Motor clarified its annual development direction at the subsequent 2026 Business Annual Conference. It predicted that the 2026 commercial vehicle market scale will reach 4.25 million units, the NEV penetration rate will exceed 35%, and exports and NEVs will become the core growth drivers. To this end, Foton set key targets for 2026: 200,000 NEV sales and 200,000 export sales. At the same time, it refined the growth tasks of each business line and established a development path of balanced advancement across all categories and breakthroughs in key areas.
To achieve these goals, Foton Motor proposed six core transformation measures:
- Firmly adjust the channel strategy, accelerate the development of NEV exclusive channels, optimize the integrated model of distribution and direct sales, and build a channel system that values both scale and quality.
- Refine commercial policies, build a system of “pay for performance, more pay for more work”, and promote the digitalization of policy management.
- Strengthen channel empowerment and training, carry out hierarchical training on sales skills and ecological business, with an annual training budget of over 37 million yuan.
- Deepen new media and internet marketing, create a new model of “online order locking + offline delivery”, realize full-domain brand exposure relying on core traffic platforms, and activate terminal momentum with supporting policies such as tiered incentives and traffic support.
- Deeply operate ecological businesses, expand the scale of operating lease, used car and energy supplement businesses, innovate the vehicle-battery separation and battery bank models, and cultivate diversified profit points for dealers.
- Strengthen financial and insurance support, deepen cooperation with core insurance companies, and build a low-price, diversified and differentiated financial product system.
These six core transformations support and synergize with each other, providing all-round and full-process support for the realization of Foton Motor’s 200,000 NEV sales target.
Conclusion
From laying a solid foundation with a full product matrix to securing all-round support with strategic positioning, Foton Motor has continued to deepen its layout and lead the NEV commercial vehicle track with technological innovation as the foundation and market demand as the guide. We believe that winning the championship in January 2026 is only the starting point. With the implementation of various strategies and the release of product potential, Foton Motor is expected to further consolidate its advantages, steadily move toward the 200,000 NEV sales target, and at the same time drive the acceleration and upgrading of the electrification transformation of China’s commercial vehicle industry.
