Carlos Tavares, Renault's chief operating officer, told Bloomberg Television that the automaker is "now preparing our strategic plan for China, and of course it will have a manufacturing component."

Tavares added that "it's a reasonable goal" to launch production by 2016.

Renault's likely partner in such an enterprise would be Dongfeng Motor Corp., which already has a successful joint venture with Nissan Motor Co., Renault's alliance partner.

In his interview, Tavares called the Nissan-Dongfeng joint venture "one of the best partnerships in the industry."

However, a Renault manufacturing venture would be a strategic reversal of sorts for the alliance.

Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Nissan and Renault, had previously said that Nissan should take the lead in China's fast-growing market.

Indeed, in the first six months of 2011, Nissan was the second-best selling brand in China with sales of 386,079 units, according to J.D. Power & Associates. By contrast, Renault sold only a few thousand imports in China.

But the French government wants Renault to seek growth opportunities in markets like China and Brazil, the Financial Times reported in May.

And it looks as if Renault is taking some initial steps. This year, the automaker is expanding its network of dealerships in China to 80 stores, up from 50. The company will open additional stores in 2012.

"It's clear that we are not just growing our dealer network to sell cars that are imported into China," Tavares remarked in his interview with Bloomberg.