Unknown Joyson throws its hat into global air-bag ring

As Takata fights to survive, a Chinese firm makes inroads into the tough market

A little-known Chinese company has seized on the unprecedented global air-bag crisis surrounding Japan's Takata Corp, buying a small American manufacturer in a bet that a shakeup of an oligarchic industry is underway.

Founded in 2004 by entrepreneur Wang Jianfeng, Ningbo Joyson Electronic Corp has grown into one of China's largest suppliers of automotive components, counting General Motors Co and Volkswagen AG among its major customers. The company bought US-based air-bag supplier Key Safety Systems for $920 million in cash from private-equity firms in February, three months after the United States regulators fined Takata and ordered it to phase out air bag inflator propellant linked to as many as 11 deaths.