ZF Friedrichshafen AG and Beiben Truck, a major Chinese heavy truck manufacturer, have signed a letter of intent for future cooperation. The signing took place at the IAA Commercial Vehicles 2010 event in Hanover, Germany.

The ambition is establish found a joint venture covering the production of complete rear axle suspension systems for heavy trucks in Baotou (Inner Mongolia).

Beiben Truck aims to introduce a new generation of heavy trucks to the Chinese market in the next two years and ZF is to "industrialise" a complete rear axle suspension system which is designed to meet the demands and requirements of the Chinese market. The production launch is scheduled for the end of 2011.

The agreement was signed by Hubert Gross, senior vice president of Commercial Vehicle Chassis Modules at ZF Lemfoerder GmbH, and Wang Shihong, general manager Beiben Truck.

As a consequence, ZF is extending its product portfolio by introducing systems business for complete truck rear axle suspensions. Beiben will receive a system which meets European quality standards and will optionally be available either as a leaf spring version or with a pneumatic spring.

The partners are also discussing possible further cooperation for cabin suspensions and other chassis technology.

Beiben was founded in 1996 and is a brand of Baotou Bei Ben Heavy-Duty Truck Co., Ltd. which is headquartered in Baotou. In 2009, the company produced approximately 35,000 heavy commercial vehicles at three locations in China.