Ford Motor Co has shelved plans to produce a new compact car family designed mainly for emerging markets like China and India, industry sources said, reflecting disappointing sales of mainstream models in the world's fastest growing car markets.

China and India were expected to be the main manufacturing hubs for the new B500 range, slated to begin production in 2018 and to include a premium sedan, hatchback and sport utility vehicle (SUV), two sources with direct knowledge of Ford's plans told Reuters.

The automaker had also planned to build its new models in Brazil, Russia and Thailand, one of the sources said.

Ford's decision, communicated to its suppliers in July, follows a similar move by General Motors (GM) to postpone the launch in India and China of a new $5 billion family of compact vehicles, said two sources familiar with GM'S thinking.

Ford's program is on ice because of muted demand for some of its small and mid-sized hatchbacks and sedans in India and China, where SUVs and "crossovers" combining the hatchback and SUV have proved increasingly popular.

The cost of upgrading plants to produce the new cars would also be prohibitively high, the sources said.

All of the sources declined to be named as they have not been cleared to discuss the plans publicly.

Ford declined to comment on the development.

Instead of the more ambitious plan for the key markets of India and China, Ford will focus on updating existing models and develop and build more SUVs and crossovers, moving away from sedans and hatchbacks, according to two separate US sources with knowledge of the company's plans.

That would allow the carmaker to boost profit margins.

"The global shift to crossovers makes competing in small cars a tough proposition for GM and Ford," said Sam Fiorani, vice-president of global vehicle forecasting at US-based AutoForecast Solutions.

"It makes more sense for them to refresh older products now, harness lower development costs in China in the mid-term, and move toward small crossovers over the long haul."

Chinese buyers have flocked to SUVs, as they grow wealthier and are often restricted to one vehicle in major cities, at the expense of contracting sedan sales.

SUV sales rose 52 percent last year, although a glut of new model launches in the segment is already leading to discounts and lower margins.

Growing competition in the small SUV segment from local Chinese carmakers is also putting more pressure on pricing.