Ford aims to expand its joint efforts with its Chinese partner.

"Ford and Changan are exploring ways to expand their partnership," said one source with direct knowledge of the situation. "Export of China-made models is only one of the possible options."

Another source said the ongoing discussions are in line with Ford CEO Alan Mulally's call to broaden ties with its Chinese partner. The sources declined to be identified since they were not authorized to talk to the media.

A spokesman for Ford, which makes Fiesta, Mondeo, Focus and X-MAX models in a three-way venture with Changan and Mazda Motor Corp., said the company has no plans to export from China.

"We are building high-quality, fuel efficient, fun-to-drive vehicles in China, for China, and have no plans to export vehicles from China," Trevor Hale, a China-based spokesman with Ford's Asia Pacific and Africa operations, said in an emailed statement.

A Changan spokesman declined to comment.

Ford, the only Detroit automaker to have steered clear of a U.S. government bailout and bankruptcy in 2009, is a relative latecomer in China, where General Motors Co. and Volkswagen AG have built up a lead.

However, Ford has been accelerating its expansion -- building a new assembly plant with Changan and Mazda -- and its 30-percent owned Jiangling Motors Corp. also is constructing a new $300 million plant.

Last year, Ford sold 582,500 vehicles, up 40 percent from the year before, outperforming a 32 percent overall increase in China.