Pigeon to sell German baby car seats

Concord GmbH, Germany's No. 2 maker of child car seats, will enter the Japanese market in September through a new contract with Pigeon Corp., a Japanese maker of baby products, the two companies announced Tuesday in Tokyo.

Pigeon will distribute eight different Concord child car seats, priced at about 40,000 yen, to stores selling baby products and car supplies. According to Concord President Herald Reithmeier, his company's baby seats are much lighter and easier than Japanese baby seats to secure and remove from cars. Child car seats from Concord, which currently enjoys a 20 percent share of the European market, weigh just 4.2 kg compared with the average car seat weighing nearly 8 kg, he said.

Reithmeier said Concord car seats have cleared high safety standard tests set by the Economic Commission for Europe and can also protect children from the impact of side crashes. He added that the seats have been designed for longer use, noting that the rear part of the seat can be removed so that older children up to 12 years of age can use them.

Unlike many industrialized nations such as Germany and the United States, Japan does not require that drivers keep infants in child car seats. The lack of a legal requirement and the common complaint that child car seats are heavy and cumbersome keep car seat use at a low 8.3 percent in Japan, according to a report by the Japan Automobile Federation.