Cybex was founded by Martin Pos in the year 2005. Headquartered in Bayreuth, Germany, the company offers a range of car seats, strollers, baby carriers and furniture pieces. Timotheus Günak, Director Sales Development at Cybex, sheds some light on the innovative approach and what have been the primary growth drivers for the brand in this interaction with Mommy & Baby Times (MBT).
November 05, 2018
MBT: Kindly apprise us how the company Cybex was formed?
Timotheus Günak: Cybex is a German company that has been in business since 2005. Our founder, Martin Pos already had considerable experience in the baby gear industry. He wondered and deliberated about what innovative products he can offer if he starts his own company. So, he started Cybex to offer baby gear products that assures safety and also has a strong sense for design. That was his original idea for creating his own brand and thirteen years later, we are here now.
MBT: Describe the product range of the brand.
TG: Cybex started with the Child Safety products, i.e. with car seats. This category represents the core of our business, especially in the European region. Gradually, we started with providing strollers too and we’re in fact just going to enter the market with a range of furniture and baby carriers as well which means that we’ve been adding and growing the product range of the brand.
MBT: Having significant experience in the baby gear industry, what goals did the founder of Cybex might have set for the company?
TG: The underlying idea is to provide products which allow parents to continue the lives that they had before becoming parents. It’s a complete new chapter in their lives and we wish to make this as memorable and hassle-free for them. We design our products which assures safety for the child without compromising anything in terms of design and functionality. That’s the idea with which Martin started the corporation and I think he’s doing a great job in conveying that and putting it across.
“We have just launched the first ever Cybex convertible car seat in the US this year, the Cybex Sirona M with SensorSafe technology. Its features include Bluetooth monitoring and an app to alert parents if a caregiver may have left the kid in the car, the kid has unbuckled their seatbelt while the car is in motion or if the baby is in danger of overheating.”
MBT: How would you describe the innovation your brand tries to incorporate in your product offerings?
TG: I think one of the greatest strength our brand has is incredible design and engineering teams which work day in and out on our products. I would mention that our centre has hundreds of engineers and designers who work on new products and constantly strive for innovations. They try to combine aspects from other industries to bring in to our products. For instance, we have just launched the first ever Cybex convertible car seat in the US this year, the Cybex Sirona M with SensorSafe technology. Its features include Bluetooth monitoring and an app to alert parents if a caregiver may have left the kid in the car, the kid has unbuckled their seatbelt while the car is in motion or if the baby is in danger of overheating. We try to bring in some cool and unprecedented things to the industry that haven’t been there before. There are significant amounts which get invested every year into Research and Development, in finding new things to position ourselves as a market leader and as a unique player in the industry.
MBT: Please spell out something on the manufacturing capabilities of the brand?
TG: Most of our manufacturing happens on site in China. And as a matter of fact, Cybex is one part of the Goodbaby International Holdings Limited. Goodbaby is a holding firm containing several brands in the industry. So, saying that, it shows that our company has a lot of insights and control on the manufacturing and the quality. And it ensures that the products that are sold at the end and given to the parents really show the highest standards in every aspect. Also, to give you one insight into the company, I think five years ago until now, we have quadrupled the number of people working in the headquarters. We have engineers from America, from China, designers from Italy, business developers from India as well. It’s really interesting to see how the nations come together and everybody has their core expertise. And then, creating new and innovative things is, I think, one of the biggest features about this company.
MBT: Would you share some recent developments and any major future plans lined up for the future?
TG: In terms of our business, we’re continually expanding our presence and have started with some offices in some major markets. We have just opened our own office for Japan this year, and four years ago, we had started it in the USA. To mention, we have many subsidiaries in the European countries and we’re also looking to expand further in that respect. We are going to launch a product range at the end of this year which is the first all-in-one car seat designed for new-born babies all the way up to 120 lbs- the so called Eternis S All-In-One Car Seat including the SensorSafe technology from the Sirona M. Also, when it comes to finding new features to bring to the product, there’s a lot that’s going to come next year. I would say stay tuned and you would be amazed to see what we will bring in to the market next year.
“We are going to launch a product range at the end of this year which is the first all-in-one car seat… Eternis S All-In-One Car Seat including the SensorSafe technology from the Sirona M.”
MBT: To elaborate more on the products, can you please describe the product range segment-wise?
TG: Sure, starting with the car seats in general, because that’s our core product range, there are three different pillars within the child safety segment, so, it starts with infant car seats like the Cloud Q which comes with a unique lie-flat feature. Continuing with the Convertible segment (the Sirona M), followed by the Booster/All-In-One segment which includes products like the Solution Q2-Fix or the Eternis S with SensorSafe which we will launch in December 2018 . We’re also excited that we are now at a stage where we can develop and design products specifically for the needs of a particular market and not just work with one-stop solutions from Europe and then bring them to other parts of the world. We’re also quite excited that we have the four ranges of car seats now in the US market. Additionally, all our future car seats will come with the SensorSafe technology which provides the highest safety standards for all our products.
Next to Car Seats, we also provide a wide range of strollers, starting from very compact fold ones, all the way to full-sized prams. Our latest stroller launch, the Eezy S-Twist, has one of the easiest one-hand-folding mechanisms and comes with the unique feature of allowing the child in the seat to sit forward-facing or parent-facing by twisting the seat without having to lift it – safety, design and functionality altogether.
Next to car seats and strollers, and as mentioned already before, we are also entering the market with our first furniture piece – the Lemo highchair – which can be used from 0 years of age, all the way to 99+, and that without having to use any screwdrivers. To round up the portfolio that Cybex offers, we will also launch a new Baby Carrier in December 2018, the so-called Maira which we are particularly excited about as it again shows the combination of Safety, Design and Functionality – check it out and you will find out why… Thank You for this interview!
