Baby seat maker to close Melbourne factory

Baby car seat manufacturer Britax is set to close its Melbourne factory, leaving 80 workers out of a job when production moves offshore.

Britax Australia, the last local manufacturer of child car seats, made the decision following an internal review of its facilities at the Sunshine plant, managing director David Jackson said in a statement.

"The company's manufacturing facilities are in need of considerable investment and that it is difficult for an Australian-based manufacturing operation to be efficient, particularly at a site which is almost 50 years old," he said.

Manufacturing at the plant will wind down throughout 2017 but the first redundancies will be made by the end of this year.

About 80 of Britax's 170 Australian-based jobs will be cut as a result.

Australian Workers' Union Victorian secretary Ben Davis says the sacked workers will struggle to find new jobs.

He criticised the company for not talking with unions or the state government to find a way to keep manufacturing in Victoria.

"The company has been open about the fact that there is a need for investment in new plant and equipment, but it does not appear to have explored co-investment or incentives of any sort," Mr Davis said on Friday.