The alliance aims to attain the target by 2013, a Renault SA spokeswoman said, clarifying Ghosn's comments to the French weekly magazine. The alliance currently has 6 percent of the Chinese market.

Nissan became a major player in China in 2002, when it formed a joint venture with Dongfeng Motor Corp. By contrast, Renault sells only a few thousand cars annually in China, which is not among the French automaker's top 15 markets.

However, Renault displayed a number of models at the Beijing auto show in April. And Ghosn says the automaker will expand its presence there some day. "If we target too many markets at once, we will not make progress anywhere because we won't have sufficient strength," Ghosn said.

On June 9, Ghosn said China has become Nissan's most profitable market.

Last year, Nissan sold 750,000 vehicles in China, up from 10,000 units ten years ago.

"There is going to be a colossal growth in the world car stock between now and 2050," he said, adding the growth would mainly come from emerging countries such as China, India and Latin America.

In the same interview, Ghosn said he also wanted to capture 10 percent of U.S. sales in 2013, up from Nissan's 8 percent now.