According to the company, the airbag integrated in the impact body above the abdomen protects the head and neck of the new product from Cybex. The airbag is activated within a few milliseconds and spreads out in a C-shape in front of the child, according to the company.
Photo: Cybex
Munich When Martin Pos set up his own company Cybex 16 years ago, he had a big vision: He wanted to manufacture the safest child seats in the world. Now the 51-year-old believes that he has come a good deal closer to his goal: Last Wednesday, the entrepreneur claimed to have brought the world’s first model with a built-in airbag to stores.
He has always been convinced that he would get this far, says Pos: “The only question was: when?” The Austrian claims that the new technology offers 50 percent more protection than other forward-facing child seats; in addition, it is as safe as rear-facing models. But with his seat, which he calls “Anoris T i-Size”, the parents have their offspring in view at all times and the children have much more legroom.
Pos has always been characterized by a certain persistence. She got him to the top of Goodbaby. The native Czech brought his company Cybex into the Chinese group seven years ago.
In 2016 he took over the head of the Hong Kong-listed company with 10,000 employees and as many patents. The family of Goodbaby founder Zhenghuan Song, 72, holds a good 46 percent of the shares, according to the semi-annual report, Pos owns around four percent of the shares. Together they come to 50.56 percent.
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Pos’ résumé is as extraordinary as an airbag seat. As the son of Czech immigrants, he had to make ends meet in Austria at a young age. Without studying or training, he eventually became managing director of the Franconian stroller manufacturer Concord.
The entrepreneur sees himself as a “typical street dog”
After this fell into the hands of financial investors, Pos built his own business. First he imported baby items. In 2005 the bustling entrepreneur finally founded Cybex. “I’m a typical street dog,” says Pos about himself. “I taught myself everything through trial and error, with a lot of sweat and tears.”
Pos combines a healthy self-confidence with an enormous amount of conviction. One of his early investors was Peter Unger, the founder of the ATU auto repair chain. And he also cast a spell over the founder of Goodbaby. Song von Pos is so convinced that he is allowed to run the entire group from tranquil Bayreuth – thousands of kilometers away from the group’s headquarters and factories in the People’s Republic of China.
That is not a problem, however, asserts Pos: “Cybex was virtual from the start”. That’s why he’s always used to video conferencing. Although Goodbaby is listed, it feels like a family business: “Chairman Song is my fatherly friend, and I work with like-minded people.”
“I taught myself everything through trial and error, with a lot of sweat and tears.”
Photo: Cybex
Pos sees Goodbaby as a whole, and Cybex in particular, as a technology company combined with outstanding design. The quality is obviously right: At Stiftung Warentest, Cybex child seats came out on top in two categories this spring. Cybex’s biggest competitors in this country are Maxi-Cosi and Britax Römer.
According to the Spielwaren trade association, a good 2.2 million child seats will be sold in Germany this year, plus more than 700,000 prams. Goodbaby also offers these. And that’s only a fraction of what the Chinese are buying.
Business is going well at Goodbaby. In the first nine months of 2021, sales increased by around a fifth to the equivalent of almost 800 million euros. The proceeds of the Franconian subsidiary Cybex even climbed by more than a third. Sharply rising transport and material costs would, however, burden the company, the group announced at the beginning of the month.
Cybex charges 700 euros for the child seat
Despite a lack of chips and a traffic jam in the logistics chain, there are several thousand of the new child seats in the stores, says Pos. The new “Anoris” costs 700 euros – and not only because of the high price it requires explanation. Because the most modern technology is hidden under the plastic.
In a conventional, front-facing seat, the child is restrained by the belt. In an accident, however, the head is thrown forward. With the new Cybex product, the airbag integrated in the impact body above the abdomen protects the head and neck, the company claims. The airbag is activated within a few milliseconds and spreads out in a C-shape in front of the child, according to the company.
Pos is used to the perplexed faces of the parents. With his high-tech “E-Priam” stroller with electric drive, app control and automatic weighing function, he doesn’t fare any differently.
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