Despite incipient signs of a marginal slowdown in the Chinese car market, foreign investors are continuing with ambitious plans to boost production in the country.

Last Thursday Ford agreed a deal to build its third plant in China with the help of Japan's Mazda Motor and China's Chongqing Changan Automobile.

China is now the world's fastest growing car market - driven by strong economic conditions and the country's burgeoning middle class car sales expanded by 80 per cent last year to two million units.

The one-billion dollar project agreed by Ford follows an announcement from Volkswagen last month to construct three new plants in China. General Motors, Toyota and Honda have also embarked upon similar plans.

While new data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers suggests that the slowdown in sales has been sharper than expected, the potential of the market is rapidly becoming too great to ignore.

It is estimated the market will continue to expand by around 36 per cent a year over the next three years before stabilizing at around 10 to 15 per cent growth per year, which is still greater than any other region in the world.

GM chief financial officer John Devine explained to AFP: "I expect volume growth to continue but there will be some margin pressure."

Boosted by Chinese sales, General Motors achieved a 49 per cent rise in second quarter profits this year.

The growth of the Chinese car market also signals good news for platinum producers as car manufacturers use platinum in autocatalysts to reduce the emission of harmful pollutants.