The $490 million (3.1 billion yuan) assembly plant, built by Ford's joint venture with Changan Automobile Group Co., will produce the redesigned Focus sedan in southwest China's city of Chongqing, Ford said in a statement.

"This new flexible plant will help give us the capacity to realize our aggressive growth plans for the world's largest automotive market," David Schoch, chairman of Ford China, said in the statement. The production line at the new factory will be able to produce six different vehicle types, the automaker said.

Expansion in the world's largest vehicle market is part of Ford CEO Alan Mulally's push to increase annual global sales by 50 percent to 8 million vehicles by 2015 and have one-third of its deliveries in Asia by 2020. Ford plans to bring 15 new models to China by 2015.

Industry sales of light vehicles in China slowed last year from 32 percent in 2010 after the government ended a two-year package of tax breaks and rebates that helped the country overtake the United States.

Total auto sales, including those of commercial vehicles, grew 2.5 percent in 2011,according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. The industry group forecasts deliveries will probably accelerate to 8 percent this year.

Ford expects China's vehicle market to expand 5 to 10 percent this year, Schoch said. The automaker will add 115 dealers this year, with at least 50 percent of them outside the so-called Tier-1 cities, said Marin Burela, president of Ford's China venture. As of Dec. 31, the company had 465 dealers in the country.