Kecia and I toured the great new Dorel technical center, adjacent to where they manufacture many Cosco, Safety 1st and other child restraint products in Columbus, Indiana. Kudos now to Britax, who opted to keep their main manufacturing facility in Charlotte, moving just across the border from North Carolina to South Carolina. They are currently moving into their shiny, new digs! I have seen it from the outside and hope to blog about a tour of the facility in the future 🙂
Other manufacturers, like Evenflo, still have major manufacturing plants in the USA as well. We know some parents prefer products made in North America, Western Europe and certain other countries for a variety of reasons. Keeping good manufacturing and technical jobs domestic to support local economies is a major one. Concerns over workers’ conditions, environmental issues and product quality control are other very legitimate concerns about losing manufacturing to Asia and other regions with ultra-cheap labor and minimal government oversight. Managers of some programs receiving funds from certain federal and state grants may be required to purchase products primarily made in the USA. For that reason, we are also compiling a list of carseats still made in the USA, including some made in Canada, Mexico and Europe.
CarseatBlog does recommend carseats that are manufactured outside North America. Location of the corporate headquarters or manufacturing is not usually a factor as to whether we recommend or do not recommend any particular child restraint. Even though where a product is made does not typically affect our opinion of a carseat, we do try to mention it in our reviews. That is so those interested in buying the product may have this information, in case it is a factor in their own purchasing decision!
Thanks for this.