UPDATE 1-Ford sees Chinese market up 5-6 pct in 2011

(Adds comment from Ford spokesman)

By Fang Yan and Ken Wills

BEIJING, Sept 26 (Reuters) - A Ford Motor executive said China's car market would likely grow 5-6 percent this year, at the low end of previous guidance from the U.S. carmaker, after the government removed most of its policy incentives.

"What we said going into the year was that we thought China would grow 5-10 percent. We said that back in December and in fact it is quite closer to 5 percent," Joe Hinrichs, president of Ford's Asia and Africa operations, told reporters on Monday.

Sales of passenger cars might pick up a little in the fourth quarter as typically happens in China, but full-year growth would still be around the 5-6 percent range, said Hinrichs.

Hinrichs's comments were at odds with those of Ford spokesman Trevor Hale who later said that Ford retained its full-year forecast for China's car market and added that Ford expected its own sales to outpace the broader market .

"Our forecast for the industry and for passenger cars in China is 5 to 10 percent for the year, and for Ford it is slightly above that," Hale said.

In his comments, Hinrichs did not offer a projection of Ford's own sales growth for the year, but Ford's sales fell 7.2 percent in the first eight months from a year ago, largely due to weak demand in the commercial vehicle segment, while the overall market grew 3.3 percent.

China's overall vehicle market sizzled in 2010 with 18 million units sold. But it has now reverted to a more subdued growth pattern after the government ended tax incentives for small car sales and subsidies for van buyers in rural areas.

From January to August, passenger car sales climbed merely 6 percent, after jumping 33 percent and 52 percent, respectively, in 2010 and 2011. Commercial vehicle sales were hit especially hard, with sales down 4.8 percent.

Ford makes Focus, Mondeo, X-Max and Fiesta models in China in partnership with Chongqing Changan Automobile Co and Mazda Motor . Ford lags General Motors and Volkswagen AG which came to the country earlier.

In April, Ford unveiled an aggressive plan to bring 15 new vehicles, double its dealerships from 340 and add 1,200 new jobs in China by 2015.

That, according to Will Periam, strategy director for Ford's Asia Pacific and Africa operations, would enable the company to compete in about 50 percent of the overall market segments in China, up sharply from 22 percent currently.

Some of the new models, including the upgraded Focus, will go into production from 2012 at a $490 million new factory in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing.

Ford and Hyundai Motor are the only major global auto makers that do not have a luxury brand among their offerings in China.

There is no timetable for Ford to bring its Lincoln model to China while its current focus is to revitalise the vintage brand in the United States, said its chief executive, Alan Mulally.

There is also no specific plan for China sales of its plug-in hybrid crossover vehicle C-MAX Energi, which it will roll out in Canada and the United States in the first half of next year, Mulally said during a visit to China to break ground for the automaker's $350 new transmission plant.

Beijing has declared the electric vehicle industry a top priority, earmarking $1.5 billion a year for the next 10 years to transform the country into one of the leading producers of clean vehicles.

But customers so far remain unimpressed by the high cost, limited range and lack of charging infrastructure for the vehicles.

Still, Nissan Motor is committed to selling its locally made electric Venucia in China in 2015, joining the likes of GM, Volkswagen and Daimler (DAIGn.DE) to explore alternative energy opportunities in the country. (Editing by David Cowell)