The Oakwood Group recently opened an office in Shanghai, China forming a new business entity called “Oakwood China.” To support this initiative, the company engaged its first two Chinese employees to serve as senior account managers focused solely on the China market. To provide our customers with a full complement of offerings, Oakwood China will supply both of the company’s core products – proprietary SafetyPlastic® energy management technology (head and side impact applications) as well as a full line of metal speaker grilles for today’s innovatively styled vehicle interiors.

The company believes there is a significant growth opportunity in China where auto sales surpassed the 20 million mark last year, growing nearly 14 percent versus the prior year and extending its lead as the world’s largest car market. In addition, recent reports indicate that vehicle ownership remains relatively low in China, with about 120 million cars in a country of 1.4 billion people – or less than 100 cars for every 1,000 persons as compared to the U.S. market where estimates show car ownership to be about 800 vehicles for every 1,000 persons.