Thankfully though, the message is getting across to consumers that safety is important. The Wilkinet Survey showed that safety is the most important consideration when it comes to choosing a seat by a substantial margin. It's good to see that 'having ISOFIX fitting' is important to all but 6% of those surveyed especially when you consider that more than 6% of cars are not able to take ISOFIX. On the downside, price being 'the most important' to around one in six consumers means that a number of customers will just choose on price alone. But an equal number feel that price is not important. “Consumers are definitely becoming more safety savvy when purchasing their car seats, “ says Mark Bennett, Head of Customer Services at Britax. “Car seats are no longer seen as an item you can cut cost on. Parents understand that you can't get much more of a premium product than a car seat and to keep a child safe and provide parental peace of mind, it is certainly worth the extra cost.” Mark continues to say, “Britax are consistently reviewing the market place so they can understand exactly what a parent wants in their car seat and quality is a top priority. This quality is demonstrated in lots of ways, including usability and adaptability for today's busy modern family, surpassed only by the assurance that the seat is as safe as it can be.”

Buying the right brand is something that pervades all our shopping. How far does it appear within the car seat market? Only 6% of consumers think that 'being a brand that is in fashion' is very important, but consumers are still very brand aware as the table shows:

Compared with six months ago, there really hasn't been much change in the top three - a change of 2 or 3% isn't statistically significant. It is noticeable, however, that sales of Maxi- Cosi and Chicco have both significantly increased - both have nearly doubled their share of sales. Note that this is sales over the last 18 months so there is twelve months overlap in the figures so recent increases are likely to be higher.

"Our Commitment to increase our market share within this Product Category is as strong as ever,” says Phil Howe, Head of Juvenile Sales at Chicco. “Over the past couple of years we have increased the consumers' awareness of our car seat range by ensuring better range representation within nationals and independents, and combining this with extensive advertising in the parental consumer press. We have also launched several Key Products (excuse the pun) - Key 1 X Plus, Key 2, 3 and most recently the Key 1 Isofix which have enabled us to compete with the competition. Consumers' awareness of the Chicco Brand is the best it has ever been in the UK and we are looking forward to increasing it further in 2008."

Maxi Cosi is also on the up. “Our market share of car seats has clearly increased considerably,” says Andrew Ratcliffe. “There are a number of reasons for this. It's mainly because we have a much more comprehensive range. Whereas we once had only the Priori, we now have CabrioFix, Tobi and Rodi XP under the Maxi-Cosi brand. CabrioFix, when combined with the IsoFix base, is the safest product on the market and therefore, the choice of a number of pushchair brands. All the market tracking services are reporting significant increases and the data we have indicates that we have more than doubled our market share in recent times. This is reflected by our status in the trade and the many retailers who tell us that we are their largest supplier.”