In 2025, China's commercial vehicle exports reached a cumulative total of 1.06 million units, increasing by 17.2% year-on-year and breaking through the 1 million mark for the first time. From January to May 2026, the cumulative exports reached 532,000 units, with a year-on-year growth of 29.5%. The commercial vehicle market in China's overseas markets is becoming an increasingly important main battlefield.
The engine, as the heart of commercial vehicles, how did it perform in the wave of overseas expansion? Can domestic powertrains compete with international giants overseas?
How is the export performance?
"As of May this year, Foton Cummins has cumulatively exported over 700,000 units." Cheng Jianguo got straight to the point and presented the current achievements of Foton Cummins in the overseas market.
"Over the past three years, Foton Cummins's overseas exports have maintained a growth rate of 20% to 30%," Cheng Jianguo said. "From January to May in 2026, Foton Cummins's export business maintained a growth rate of over 30%. This year, the company expects to sell more than 80,000 units of products, accounting for over 40% of the total sales volume, approaching 45%." He further added that Foton Cummins has experienced a significant growth in both road and non-road products this year.
In recent years, Foton Cummins has maintained a high growth rate in overseas sales while also expanding its export scope. "Currently, Foton Cummins's exports mainly cover four regions: Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia. The sales volume in Latin America and Southeast Asia is relatively higher," said Cheng Jianguo. Based on the technical accumulation of over a decade in China, Foton Cummins performs very well in the overseas market, regardless of areas with poor oil quality in Africa, the high-altitude regions in Latin America, or the high-humidity and high-temperature conditions in Southeast Asia.
In terms of product structure, the performance of Foton Cummins in the domestic market and the overseas market shows significant differences. "In the domestic market, medium and heavy-duty engines account for approximately 70%, while light-duty engines account for about 30%; in the overseas market, medium and heavy-duty engines account for approximately 30%, while light-duty engines account for about 70%," Cheng Jianguo said. This structural contrast is precisely the key direction for Foton Cummins's future efforts.
Foton Cummins without major repairs for 200,000 kilometers of operation demonstration
Specifically regarding the products, currently the main model for Foton Cummins's light vehicles for export is the 3.8-liter engine. "This engine was very popular in the domestic market. It not only has excellent performance but also high reliability. Among the main manufacturers exporting light trucks in China, Foton Cummins's 3.8-liter engine currently accounts for over 30% of the overall market share," Cheng Jianguo said.
In the heavy-duty sector, the 12-liter engine is the main export model. "The Foton Cummins 12-liter engine has a very low weight, excellent fuel consumption performance, and powerful power. This engine has been selling well in Latin America, Europe, and Africa," Cheng Jianguo said.
What are the advantages of going overseas?
In recent years, why has Foton Cummins been able to maintain a high growth rate in export sales? What exactly has it done in the overseas market?
In Cheng Jianguo's view, in recent years, the biggest problem that Chinese enterprises need to address in their exports is service guarantee. And the overseas competitive advantage of Foton Cummins has long gone beyond the product level. "Currently, the export of Chinese engines mainly involves exporting engines installed in complete vehicles, and the competition is carried out in collaboration with the entire vehicle. Foton Cummins has three prioritier: First, the engine has greater power, torque and horsepower; second, it has high matching efficiency with the entire vehicle and good fuel consumption performance; third, it exports the entire value chain."
Cheng Jianguo particularly emphasized that Fu Kang has a significant service advantage in the overseas market. "In places like Europe and Africa, it is usually enterprises from Europe, America, Japan and South Korea. The availability of spare parts and the 24-hour after-sales service satisfaction rate are generally not very good. Foton Cummins went out with Chinese OEMs and delivered excellent Chinese efficiency and customer service. Compared with European enterprises, its competitiveness has significantly improved."
Cheng Jianguo stated that the confidence behind the Foton Cummins service guarantee comes from its two parent companies. "Foton Cummins is particularly fortunate to have two parent companies. Cummins has an extremely comprehensive network in mature regions such as Latin America and Europe, while Foton has an extremely comprehensive network in emerging markets such as Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. The two parent companies complement each other."
"In independent engine companies, Foton Cummins has relied on two parent companies to provide excellent overseas services," Cheng Jianguo said. Foton Cummins's approach is to utilize the network systems of the two parent companies, through technical exchanges, training, and improvement of channel capabilities, to establish Foton Cummins's service and spare parts capabilities. It also ensures that spare parts are in stock before new products are launched.
How should the future be planned?
Given the current performance, what are the overseas plans for Foton Cummins in the future? What are the specific growth targets?
In the future, Foton Cummins aims to increase its overseas sales volume and also needs to change its product structure. Cheng Jianguo stated that by 2030, Foton Cummins's export sales volume should reach 120,000 to 150,000 units. At the same time, it will increase the proportion of medium and heavy truck exports from the current 30% to over 40%, ultimately making the export proportion of total sales approach 60%.
The foundation for this goal lies in Foton Cummins 's profound understanding of global market demands.
"Before 2023, overseas trade was mainly in a small-scale export format, with little attention paid to local adaptation. Basically, it was just selling Chinese products abroad." Cheng Jianguo said. In the past two years, the overseas export demand has completely changed. "In some countries, Chinese OEMs have sold over 5,000 units per year and have a stock of several thousand units. The requirements for the adaptability and reliability of the products have significantly increased."
Therefore, Foton Cummins has adopted a differentiated product portfolio strategy. "First, we create specialized products for the overseas market. Take light trucks as an example. In the domestic market, the main model is F2.5, but in the overseas market, we do not simply import the domestic 2.5-liter products but make some targeted modifications. Second, we establish a full-range product matrix for the overseas market. Currently, Foton Cummins's light vehicle product layout in overseas markets includes all series of products such as 2.8L, 3.0L, 3.8L, and 4.5L, which is fully capable of creating exclusive combinations for different regions." Cheng Jianguo stated.
He gave several examples: "The urea prices in Southeast Asia are high, so Foton Cummins developed the EGR product; in Africa, we have both laid out basic products that are easy to maintain and high-end electronic control products; for the upcoming Euro 7 emissions standards in Europe, we have also made product plans."
Cheng Jianguo specifically mentioned the strategic value of the Thai factory. The Thai factory, which is scheduled to start production by the end of 2024, has accumulated two key experiences for Foton Cummins. "Firstly, there is the experience of local manufacturing. The recruitment and management of local employees, as well as cross-border supply chain transportation, are completely different from what was originally imagined. A lot of experience in avoiding pitfalls has been accumulated. Secondly, there is the experience of local product development. For example, in Southeast Asia, there are long traffic jams and vehicles are idling for half the time, which requires very high lubrication standards. Another example is that it often rains, and the engine may get soaked in water, so there are specific requirements for component layout and anti-corrosion."
Currently, the process of domestic electrification is very rapid. Has the overseas engine market also been affected? Cheng Jianguo's judgment on the future overseas market space is very optimistic. "At present, commercial vehicles are tools used for making profits. Electrification has not happened so quickly. Cummins' target market has a huge market size of several million units. There is a certain growth in the European new energy market, but there are still a large number of traditional power markets in Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Middle East that have not been developed."
Starting from the first engine being exported in 2009, and up to now, a total of 700,000 units have been exported; from mainly exporting bare machines to exporting complete vehicles equipped with the machines; from simply selling products to establishing factories in Thailand to realize the export of technology... Foton Cummins has completed the "three-step leap" of its overseas business in just over a decade.
In the coming years, by 2030, Fu Kang plans to increase its annual overseas export volume to 150,000 units, and its overseas story will continue to be written at an accelerated pace.