Beijing  - US auto giant Ford Motor Co on Friday said it plans to build a third plant in China at a cost of nearly 500 million dollars to back its Asia-wide expansion targets.

The Changan Ford Mazda Automobile joint venture would build the plant in the central city of Chongqing by 2012 with an investment of 3.34 billion yuan (490 million dollars), Ford said in a statement.

The plant would have the capacity to produce 150,000 vehicles per year, increasing the Ford joint venture's total production in China to about 600,000 and reflecting its "commitment to aggressively expand in the Asia-Pacific and Africa region," the second-largest US carmaker said.

"Today's announcement reinforces our commitment to the further expansion of our China operations to meet the continued rise in demand from Chinese consumers," Ford president Alan Mulally said at a groundbreaking ceremony for the plant in Chongqing.

"This new facility will allow us to continue to build and introduce the types of vehicles that Chinese customers really want and desire," said Robert Graziano, chairman of Ford Motor China, who added that the company planned to introduce four new Ford cars in China over the next three years.

Ford's new venture puts it in line to compete with other global and Chinese carmakers in China's still-expanding market, where rivals General Motors Corp and Volkswagen AG currently lead the way.

Most Chinese and foreign automakers are pressing ahead with bold expansion plans.

Volkswagen recently said it aims to unveil at least four new or updated models annually in China.

Vehicle sales were expected to reach 12 million in China this year, including about 10 million passenger cars, according to the government.

But some analysts have warned that the aggressive expansion plans are likely to lead to a surplus of passenger cars in China in the next few years. (dpa)