HANNOVER, Germany, Sept. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- BAIC FOTON Executive Vice President Liu Xuguang outlined the company's European strategy during the Media Day press conference at IAA TRANSPORTATION 2026. The plan advances BAIC FOTON's development as a globally competitive commercial vehicle company through international expansion, new-energy products, intelligent technologies and deeper local operations.
Global Growth and Product Strategy
Founded in 1996, BAIC FOTON employs more than 30,000 people and operates 23 intelligent factories in China and 32 manufacturing facilities overseas. The company has ranked first in China's commercial vehicle sales for 21 consecutive years and has led Chinese commercial vehicle exports for 15 consecutive years.
Its "Three Comprehensives" strategy covers internationalization, new-energy transformation and intelligent development. In overseas markets, BAIC FOTON will focus on products adapted to local requirements, integrated transport and energy solutions, and partnerships that strengthen local operations.
The company's portfolio includes heavy-duty and light-duty trucks, vans, pickups, buses and special-purpose vehicles. Powertrain options include conventional fuel, battery electric, hybrid and hydrogen systems. FOTON provides a premium full-line commercial vehicle range, FORLAND focuses on high-volume light and mini commercial vehicles, and CAVAN develops green-energy mobility solutions.
For Europe, BAIC FOTON is prioritizing battery-electric, hybrid and hydrogen technologies across freight and passenger transport. The CAVAN electric van uses a dedicated battery-electric platform designed for efficient urban distribution, with improved space utilization and lower energy consumption.
Dedicated new-energy platforms support the range, allowing vehicle specifications to reflect different routes, payloads and operating cycles. This product approach gives European fleets practical choices for urban delivery, regional distribution, long-haul transport and passenger services while supporting the transition to lower-carbon operations and efficient fleet management.
Long-Term Localization in Europe
BAIC FOTON currently operates in nearly 20 European markets through more than 300 service outlets. It plans to expand across major European markets and establish local assembly by 2028. A European technical center already supports market research, product definition and technical services, helping vehicles meet EU regulations and customer requirements.
The company is also developing an energy and mobility ecosystem covering solar power, energy storage, charging, vehicle-to-grid services and load testing. BAIC FOTON plans to deploy at least 5,000 charging terminals in Europe and work with local partners on vehicle leasing, fleet management and used-vehicle services.
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BAIC FOTON Sets European Strategy at IAA TRANSPORTATION 2026
The Physical AI startup joins L'Oréal's flagship sustainable innovation program to address the beauty industry's most urgent challenges in climate, nature, and circularity
BOSTON, Sept. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Laminar, the only physical AI company that powers Process-Aware Autonomy for self-driving factories, today announced its selection for the second Cohort of L'AcceleratOR, L'Oréal's innovation program designed to scale breakthrough sustainability solutions in the beauty industry and beyond.
"We are working to unlock new frontiers in the beauty industry through pioneering solutions," said Ezgi Barcenas, Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer at L'Oréal. "This second L'AcceleratOR cohort reflects our ambition to bring together entrepreneurial ingenuity, scientific progress and the global reach of L'Oréal to help scale breakthrough innovations."
Laminar was selected as one of 13 startups from nearly 1,000 applications across more than 100 countries. Endowed with €100 million over five years and run in partnership with the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), "L'AcceleratOR" is a catalyst for scalable sustainable solutions of the future to solve the most urgent challenges in climate, nature, and circularity.
"Water-intensive process manufacturing industries like health and beauty must urgently rethink how their facilities use water for production processes," said Annie Lu, Laminar Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder. "Laminar's physical AI tackles this critical water challenge by cutting water, chemical, and energy waste and reclaiming production time. Each Laminar Line deployed delivers greater visibility into our customer's production resource utilization and improves productivity and sustainability at the same time."
"We are pleased to join L'AcceleratOR alongside fellow innovators working on the sustainability challenges that matter most," Lu continued. "We look forward to collaborating with L'Oréal and CISL as we move toward pilot projects that demonstrate what Process-Aware Autonomy can do for water resilience — not just in beauty, but across every process manufacturing facility in the world."
Laminar Process-Aware Autonomy
Laminar pioneers a new category of Physical AI for process manufacturing that unlocks the full potential of more productive and sustainable production lines. The startup's Process-Aware Autonomy stack converts inefficient, pre-programmed automation to dynamic, self-driving processes that save time, chemicals, energy, and water — ultimately powering factories that are more agile and more sustainable.
- Process-Aware Sensors: Patented, inline sensors retrofit easily into existing infrastructure and generate a unique, digital fingerprint of what's flowing inside the pipe in real-time.
- Process-Aware AI: Factory-proven, foundational ML models interpret the digital fingerprints in the context of a specific manufacturing process to determine the current process state and autonomously drive the optimal next action.
- Process-Aware Insights: Laminar's trust layer that transforms millions of historical, real-time, and predictive process measurements into explainable decisions, verified savings, and actionable opportunities so operators can confidently run the best version of their factory.
Laminar Industry Recognition and Awards
Deployed across hundreds of lines on six continents with the top seven of the top ten global Food & Beverage companies like AB InBev, Coca-Cola, and Danone, Laminar's Process-Aware Autonomy delivers an average of 20% fewer chemicals used, 20% less water per cycle, and lines running 15% faster. At Unilever's Poznań facility alone, Laminar saved over €100,000 per line annually across just two lines.
This L'AcceleratOR partnership adds to a growing body of recognition from the world's most demanding institutions. Laminar recently received the 2026 FoodTech Innovation Award, won the 2026 Edison Award's Gold Award for the Manufacturing & Logistics category, was granted AB InBev's 2024 Cheers Award for outstanding startup partnership, and earned Unilever's 2023 Supplier Startup of the Year. Recently designated as a WEF Technology Pioneer, its solution is also deployed in World Economic Forum Lighthouse factories — a select group recognized for their leadership in cutting-edge industrial technology.
Headquartered at Greentown Labs in Somerville, MA — North America's leading cleantech community, Laminar is a woman-founded startup backed by top-tier investors, including Greycroft, Construct Capital, 2048 Ventures, and Flybridge Capital.
About L'Oréal
For 115 years, L'Oréal, the world's leading beauty player, has devoted itself to one thing only: fulfilling the beauty aspirations of consumers around the world. Our purpose, to create the beauty that moves the world, defines our approach to beauty as essential, inclusive, ethical, generous and committed to social and environmental sustainability. With our broad portfolio of 37 international brands and ambitious sustainability commitments in our L'Oréal for the Future programme, we offer each and every person around the world the best in terms of quality, efficacy, safety, sincerity and responsibility, while celebrating beauty in its infinite plurality. More information on https://www.loreal.com/en/mediaroom
About CISL
CISL is an impact-led institute within the University of Cambridge that activates leadership globally to transform economies for people, nature and climate. Through its global network and hubs in Cambridge, Cape Town and Brussels, CISL works with leaders and innovators across business, finance and government to accelerate action for a sustainable future. CISL has supported over 500 startups in the past 5 years through its accelerator programmes, community and workspace, and has been ranked as a top EU startup hub by the Financial Times for three years running. https://www.cisl.cam.ac.uk/innovation
About Laminar
Laminar's Process Aware Autonomy is an entirely new category of Physical AI reinventing how leading process manufacturers run more productive, sustainable factories. Our patented, inline sensors measure real-time fluid conditions in every production process, informing our factory-proven, foundational Process-Aware Models that interpret process states to drive optimal decisions that maintain quality standards and reduce waste. The Laminar Insights Platform serves as our trust layer for AI decision making and delivers real-time visibility into the time, water, chemical, and energy saved across every cycle, line, and facility. Across six continents, leading manufacturers like AB InBev, Coca-Cola, and Unilever trust Laminar to run their most critical processes and realize self-driving factories. Learn more at runlaminar.com
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L'Oréal Selects Laminar for Second Cohort of L'AcceleratOR
