J Mays, Ford's group vice president of design, confirmed the company's plans to transform its "listening post" in Shanghai into a studio over the next two years.

"The plan is to develop a small studio in much the same way that we've done the studio at Injeni," Mays said, referring to Ford's eight-year old studio in London. "We are looking for talent. We're hoping that some of that talent will be Chinese."

Asked whether the Shanghai studio will design complete vehicles for Ford, Mays replied: "I don't know, but stay tuned. It depends on the ability of the design team. As we get up and running, it will be interesting to see what kind of fruit that team will bear."

Ford trails far behind General Motors Co. and Volkswagen AG in China sales, but is trying to catch up. Changan Ford is building a third assembly plant in Chongqing, which will start producing the Focus compact car in 2012.

The company also has expanded its dealer network. Changan Ford recently opened 40 new dealerships, and is adding another 66 stores. By the end of the year, the joint venture will have 340 dealerships.

Ford, with group sales of 321,400 units in the first 11 months, is China's eighth-ranked foreign automaker.