The company, which will be exhibiting at the Auto Shanghai trade show this month, said it was targeting a market share of 26 percent in bumpers and 16 percent in fuel systems by 2021 in China, up from 22 percent and 9 percent currently.

"At this rate, Plastic Omnium will grow much faster than Chinese automotive production, which is set to hit the 30 million vehicle mark in 2021, up from 26 million in 2016," the company said in a statement.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) expects the auto market to grow 5 percent in 2017 - a marked slowdown from 13.7 percent in 2016.

Many industry observers forecast a decision by the Chinese government to roll back a tax cut on small engine cars will weigh on growth.

“The growth in this market will slow down simply because back in 2016 you had lower tax thanks to incentives implemented by the Chinese government. They did reduce the tax on small vehicles but this tax is now higher in 2017 and will continue to grow next year,” said Bryan Garnier analyst Xavier Caroen.

“This market is not a market which will go up by 10 percent any more, it’s more a market that should be five to six percent maximum every year,” Caroen added, saying he saw Plastic Omnium's target as "optimistic".

The company, which generated 8.5 percent of its sales in China in 2016, said it also planned to double the percentage of revenue it generates from local Chinese car manufacturers to reach 30 percent in 2021.

Shares in the company were up 0.8 percent at 1106 GMT.

(Reporting by Alan Charlish in Gdynia; Editing by Thyagaraju Adinarayan and Mark Potter)

By Alan Charlish