THE ROAD TO SUCCESS - Thule Group | Thule Group · THE ROAD TO SUCCESS A BOOK ABOUT THE THULE GROUP...

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THE ROAD TO SUCCESS

A BOOK ABOUT THE THULE GROUP 1942 – 2010

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Metallfabriken Thule (Thule Metal Factory) was founded in 1942 as a

small family business in the province of Småland, Sweden. From its

modest beginnings nearly 70 years ago, the company has since

developed into a fast growing lifestyle group. Thule’s products are

globally coveted symbols of an active recreational life, whether one

lives in Berlin, Denver, Cape Town, Rio de Janeiro, Stockholm, Tokyo,

Sydney or Vancouver.

As the new CEO with a focus on the exciting ongoing development of

the group, I felt a need to take a look back in order to better understand

what has been the Thule Group’s recipe for success so far.

Part of the explanation of course lies in everything that Thule has had

from the very start – entrepreneurship, technical knowledge, ingenuity,

a natural relationship with the outdoors and the competitive desire to

continuously find new ways to win new customers and new markets

with new ideas for simplifying a modern, active lifestyle.

But this is not the whole truth. For without a pinch of chance, luck and

intuition in just the right circumstances, Thule’s journey out into the

wider world would never have happened.

This is the story of how it all came about.

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Magnus WelanderCEO and President, Thule GroupMalmö, Sweden January 2011

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The road to successA BOOK ABOUT THE THULE GROUP 1942 – 2010

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CONTENT:The Entrepreneurs in the forest.....8

A new way of thinking.....................32

Thule comes to the US....................46

Global growth......................................76

Buy & Build.........................................102

Consumer focus............................146

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TH

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HU

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TIM

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2010 New consumer-oriented strategy, new global store concept

2009 New global website launched

2008 Global economic crisis – threat of bankruptcy when Thule can’t make interest payments – rescue plan proves successful

2007 Nordic Capital acquires Thule from Candover

2005 Thule buys Star Trailer (horse trailers), Omnistor (awnings and accessories)

2006 Thule buys Brink and Valley (towbars), Sportrack (racks) and Case Logic (bags and storage)

2004 Purchase of Sportworks (bike carriers), C&C Distributors (trailers) and König (snow chains)Candover acquires Thule from EQT

2003 New production unit for trailers built in Poland

1999 Viking Pol factory acquired – manufacturing of bike carriers begins in Poland

1997 Thule purchases the American roof box manufacturer Karrite and becomes world’s largest producer of roof boxes

1994 Japan dominant export market – Thule receives Swedish Trade Council’s award as best exporter to Japan

1991 German roof box manufacturer Jetbag acquired

1989 Own product development begins in the U.S.

1985 Sponsorship deal signed with Robbie Naish, the world’s best windsurfer

1981 Incursion in the U.S. – Thule taking hold among sports stores

1979 The Eldon Group purchases Thule

1942 Thule founded

1960 Converted to limited liability company: Industri AB Thule

1964 New plant in Hillerstorp

1965 Norway and Finland become the first export markets

1969 Concentrates solely on products for car roofs

1980 Ingemar Stenmark signs on to promote Thule

1999 EQT acquires Eldon Group – Thule becomes an independent company

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Willis Thulin

Lars Bengtsson

Åke Skeppner

Anders Pettersson

Magnus Welander

Erik Thulin

Gunnar Brock

Thulin family1942-1979

Eldon1979-1999

EQT1999-2004

Candover2004-2007

Nordic Capital 2007 -

OWNER CEO

2009 Thule EuroClick (bike carrier integrated with hitch) is launched

2010 Thule Crossover bags introduced

2008 Thule K-Summit launched as the world’s most user-friendly snow chain

2006 Thule Hullavator (kayak carrier with hoist) is launched

2004 The bestseller Thule 591 ProRide (roof-mounted bike carrier) is launched

2001 Launch of Hull-a-Port kayak carrier, Thule’s most sold product in the U.S.

1997 The rear-mounted bike carriers EuroClassic and EuroWay launched

1996 Thule Rapid System 750 launched – integrated, aerodynamic successor to the 1061 system

1984 Launch of second roof box, Thule Combibox 250 – the world’s first blow-molded roof box

1982 Launch of the 1061 system for cars with no rain gutters

1977 First roof box called TB-11 (Accessory 11) is launched

1975 The 1050 rack system is launched with three accessories for skis, bike and boat, plus a basket

1973 Luxus – the first lockable ski carrier in Europe

1968 Thule Classic 68 roof rack is launched

1962 First product for the car roof: ski carrier

1955 First car product: headlamp grilles

1951 Flower stands, brass candle holders, rat traps and display stands

1944 Belt buckles

1942 Pike traps, the companys first product

1964 Second product for the car roof: roof rack with basket

1992 The first towbar-mounted bike carrier is launched

1985 Thule Combibox 600 roof box, the first roof box covering the whole roof of the car, is launched

2010

2000

1990

1980

1970

1960

1950

1942

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The entrepreneurs in the forest

1942 – 1969: THE ENTREPRENEURS IN THE FOREST

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Hillerstorp, Sweden is a small community of about 1,800 residents belonging to the municipality of Gnosjö in northwest Småland. Surrounded by deep pine forests abounding with lakes and streams, it is an El Dorado for nature lovers, whether they prefer hunting, fishing, mountain biking, canoeing, camping or downhill skiing at Isaberg, Southern Sweden’s largest ski resort.

When Erik Thulin founded Thule in 1942, recreation was one of the last things on people’s minds. World War II was raging and although neutral Sweden was spared from battle, most goods were subject to rationing in this time of scarcity.

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S CARCE TIMES were nothing new for Erik Thulin. Born in 1898, he had grown up as one of 13 children on a small farm in the village of Österskog just outside Hillerstorp. Like some 1.3 million other Swedes, he too decided to seek a better life in the United States. He embarked on his journey in 1919 and eleven years would pass before he returned to Sweden.

When he returned home to Österskog in 1930, the Great Depression had just begun to sink its claws into the Swedish economy. Erik, however, managed to secure a job at Hilloverken, an industrial firm where he was to remain for the next twelve years. It was common in the Gnosjö area for budding entrepreneurs to gain experience in industry before taking the plunge with their own businesses, which were then often hired as subcontractors by their former employers.

THE GNOSJÖ SPIRIT – A PART OF THULEIn Sweden, Gnosjö is considered more than just an ordinary small community. It is a region that has become synonymous with entrepreneurial spirit, exemplified through a peculiar combination of competition and cooperation through informal networks of people and businesses. People use the expression “Gnosjöandan”, meaning the Gnosjö Spirit, to explain why this particular part of the country has always been characterized by inventiveness, enterprise and low unemployment. It implies, among other things, that the people and businesses of the region help one another and grow with each other’s success.

It is a tradition rooted in a time long before the industrial era of the 19th century. There have been skilful metalworkers here since the 17th century, when con-stant warring by the Swedish Empire, then one of the great powers of Europe, demanded an ever-increasing supply of weapons. One of the country’s many rifle factories was located in Huskvarna, which in turn provided work for a number of so-called ‘bayonet smithies’ in the nearby area, including several around Gnosjö.

As the war industry later began to decline, production shifted towards more pea-ceful products and many farmers began to supplement a meager agriculture by drawing wire and weaving wire cloth. This knowledge gradually led to the manu-facture of products such as hooks, eyes, needles, bells and mousetraps, all rising out of the small, red cottages in the woods.

FROM PIKE TRAPS TO THE AUTO INDUSTRYEntrepreneurship was thus a long established tradition in the areas surrounding Hillerstorp by the time Erik Thulin also began feeling a growing urge to start his own business. In 1942 he left Hillerverken and together with his wife Gunhild started a private firm that two years later was registered with the trade name Metallfabriken Thule. In the beginning, the factory building consisted of a small house in Hillerstorp. Later it was a 15 square meter washhouse and carpenter’s shed back on their small farm consisting of two cows and a pig in the village of Österskog, just outside Hillerstorp.


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WILLIS THULIN: When I misspelled two words the teacher went into a fit of rage. ‘You sit there and make spelling mistakes,’ she shouted as she slapped me. But there was nothing I could do about it. I saw that the words were wrong, but I didn’t know how to make them right.

Mindful of the food rationing situation, Erik’s business started out by manufacturing a traditional product that remained in steady demand during the lean war years: pike traps. Baited with roach, these traps were wily devices that relentlessly pinned pike down as soon as they bit.

In 1944, while continuing to make pike traps, Thule began manufacturing four or five models of belt buckles as well. Before the war, belt buckles had been a major export product for German companies that had now been forced to switch to wartime production. Thule’s belt buckles sold well for several years until German production resumed after the war. In the early 1950s Thule broadened its product portfolio to include flower stands, simple brass candle holders, rat traps and display stands for stores.

After 13 years in business, Thule made the leap into the industry that was to define its future. In 1955, it launched its first product for cars. The headlamp grille was a popular automobile accessory that shielded against flying stones on the gravel roads of 1950s Sweden. For Thule, it would become a stable source of income over the coming years.

GETTING HELP FROM HIS SONSErik and Gunhild had three sons: Willis, Jack and Bertil. Willis, the eldest, showed an interest in technology from an early age but he struggled with language. Today dyslexia is a standard term, but in the elementary schools of the 1940s there wasn’t always the same level of acceptance.

But, as previously mentioned, Willis possessed far greater talent in the field of technology. Ever since he was a young boy he had been interested in toying with things. When Erik, who had suffered from sciatica for a number of years, was also diagnosed with MS, Willis and Jack gradually took over their father’s role as the driving force within the company.

Willis had plenty of ideas for products, but lacked formal technical education. He had been in the last batch of students in Sweden to only have six years of compulsory education, and he would later joke that he had gone to SHK, the School of Hard Knocks. Above all, he lacked the tools with which to realize his ideas. There was a way to rectify the latter situation, however. He began by buying a used lathe and milling machine from Bengt Erlandsson, who sold machinery and fittings to local small businesses from his mechanical workshop.

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Part of the deal involved Willis being given a crash course in tempering steel from the experienced “old guys” in the workshop. He was also allowed to go to Bengt’s workshop and pick up the tool steel he needed to make his own tools. Having set up the lathe and milling machine in the factory building, he had everything he needed to start making his own products.

THE HOSE CLAMP THAT WENT ON STRIKEThule had started out as a sole proprietorship trading under the name Metall–fabriken Thule. In 1960, however, it became a limited liability company and was renamed. The newly formed Industri AB Thule was modestly staffed by its three partners, Erik, Willis and Jack Thulin, as well as Jan Hildingsson, the company’s sole employee. Willis had assumed multiple roles as CEO, product developer and marketing director, while Jack, as deputy CEO, was responsible for purchasing and deliveries.

Industri AB Thule endured a difficult start, as a couple of tough early tests threatened the company’s very existence. Headlamp grilles had served as a reliable cash cow for a number of years, but suddenly a competitor had emerged in the form of a company from Borlänge.

This wasn’t the only ominous cloud on the horizon. In 1961, Willis had invested a lot of time and money in the development of a new type of hose clamp that the Stockholm wholesaler Nordiska Biltillbehör had ordered. Eventually, however, Thule was forced to accept that the clamp wasn’t going to work and the project would have to be dropped.

The technological demands were simply too high in relation to the knowledge available in the company at the time. The problem was that 40,000 kronor had been plowed into the development of the hose clamp, which was a gigantic sum considering Thule’s turnover that year had been halved to just 98,000 kronor.

The fact that Thule was forced to ditch such a costly investment just when revenue from headlamp grilles had diminished so drastically led to an emergency meeting at Erik and Gunhild’s farm, where Industri AB Thule still had its offices. The company stood on the brink of bankruptcy.

WILLIS THULIN: Their headlamp grille had crenellated mesh, meaning it was woven and mounted with a plastic ring. It looked more stylish, which was important for something positioned at the front of the car. So they were able to knock us out of the market pretty quickly.


15Erik Thulin: a true Smalandian entrepreneur who founded Thule in 1942

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1942 PIKE TRAP: Metallfabriken Thule’s first product was a pike trap that was baited with roach and had a sharp hook that impaled the pike. A popular product during war era rationing, it is now prohibited in recreational fishing.

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1955 HEADLAMP GRILLE: Thule’s first car accessory was a head-lamp grille to protect against flying stones - a bestseller in Sweden during the 50s and 60s thanks to all the gravel roads.

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CARRY ON OR CLOSE DOWN?The most important issue on the agenda was whether Thule should close down or carry on. It was no easy decision. If they chose to shut down immediately, the company could declare bankruptcy without any of its creditors losing any money. If, on the other hand, they decided to keep going, they would have to quickly adopt the new technology involving crenellated mesh attached with a plastic ring in order to once again become competitive.

They decided to give it another try and swiftly set about remodeling their grilles in an attempt to regain the market share they had lost. Willis traveled to a plastics manufacturer in Limmared to try to find the right plastic profile as quickly as possible.

Thanks to this help from outside the company, it took just three weeks for Thule to obtain several different models as well as the equipment needed to weld the profiles. Production was soon underway. Thule had survived its first major crisis and was back in the market again in 1962. The rejuvenated company was brimming with such self-confidence that the same wholesaler that had ordered the fateful hose clamps now returned with a new order. It was an order that proved decisive for the company’s future.

THULE MAKES IT ONTO THE CAR ROOFWhat Nordiska Biltillbehör really wanted was a ski carrier that could be mounted on the car roof. This time Willis had no problem designing the product. Thule’s first ski carrier was a success and in 1963 turnover increased to 240,000 kronor.

The following year, the same customer placed an order for roof racks. Thule now began making roof racks in the summer and ski carriers in the winter. Turnover more than doubled as a result. Both products were relatively simple: the roof rack had a classic basket design, while the ski carrier consisted of two arched rails connected with an adjustable pipe that made it possible to adapt the carrier to the width of the car. The roof racks and ski carriers had very similar feet, which were attached to the car’s rain gutters.

This rapid expansion in roof racks and ski carriers meant the company’s office at Erik and Gunhild’s home was no longer big enough. Even with several additions made to the old washhouse over the years, which now measured 230 square meters, there still wasn’t enough space. In order for production to keep pace the company had to increase its capacity and in 1964 Thule moved into a brand new, 550 square meter factory in Hillerstorp.

THULE PROTECTS ITS TRADEMARKAlthough Thule’s prospects now seemed relatively bright, the company still found itself in a fiercely competitive market. In 1965, there were as many as 15 compa-nies producing roof racks and ski carriers in Sweden alone, and there were many

WILLIS THULIN: We were at our lowest ebb financially and hurrying to create a product that would work. To make matters worse, I was a complete novice when it came to plastic. But one of the “old guys” at the plastics company helped me create a plastic profile that we could use.


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other competitors elsewhere in Europe. What’s more, Thule was in the hands of a single customer. Nordiska Biltillbehör bought every roof rack and ski carrier the company produced. When the customer now made it known that it wanted the products to bear its own trademark name rather than Thule’s, it probably didn’t expect to encounter much resistance. During negotiations in the spring of 1965, however, the stubborn company from Småland, refused to remove its own trademark from the product.

NORWAY AND FINLAND: THE FIRST EXPORT MARKETSIn 1965, Thule had begun to make cautious inroads into an export market that would later drive the company’s growth. Norway and Finland were the first markets outside Sweden in which Thule gained a foothold. In relation to its population, Norway was to become by far the most successful market for the company. All of this led to Thule again doubling its turnover compared to the previous year. In 1965, Thule passed the magical million mark, achieving a turnover for the year of 1.2 million kronor. In Sweden, however, an ominous calm descended. When the time came in spring 1966 to negotiate with Nordiska Biltillbehör for the coming winter season, Thule’s dominant Swedish client was suddenly very quiet. Weeks passed and Willis began to grow suspicious. When there was still no sign of an order by mid-June, he decided to make the journey up to Stockholm. He had a feeling that a competitor had emerged and so he decided to travel around and begin marketing Thule to potential new customers.

Willis started out by paying a visit to Esso. Having sold 5,000 ski carriers there, he was full of confidence as he moved on to BP, General Motors, Ford and several other companies in the car and fuel industry. With sales continuing to go well, Willis acted on an impulse on his way home and pulled in to Volkswagen’s offices in Södertälje just before closing time.

In just one day Thule had freed itself from its dependence on Nordiska Biltillbehör and developed a broad customer base. Thule continued to receive orders for headlamp grilles from their once so dominant customer, but nothing in the way of roof racks or ski carriers. Suspicions that they had switched to a competitor seemed justified. One day in September 1966, Nordiska Biltillbehör got in touch again and said they wanted to place an immediate order for ski carriers.

It turned out that they had indeed been buying their roof racks from one of Thule’s competitors, and this competitor had run into difficulties and not been able to deliver. As the winter season was just around the corner, negotiations went exceptionally fast and half an hour later Willis left with an order for 25,000 ski carriers.

WILLIS THULIN: We had been marking the products with “Thule” for several years and now the customer wanted them marked with their own product name. I couldn’t agree to that. My argument was simple: Thule had invested in the tools and manpower for making the roof racks, so Thule was the name that should appear on them. Eventually they conceded, but at the time I didn’t realize just how much that decision would ultimately mean.

WILLIS THULIN: It was worth a shot since things had gone so well at the other places. It turned out I was in luck as their relationship with one of our competitors had turned sour that very day, so I received a large order on the spot.

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TORP SPEEDS UP EXPORTSBy 1967, Thule had established a decent client base in Sweden, Norway and Finland. There was, however, even more potential elsewhere in Europe, and when the worldly Danish salesman Johannes Torp Pedersen swung by Hillerstorp in his Mercedes S-Class that same year, a collaboration began that would last 13 years.

Torp Pedersen was a bachelor who worked on 6% commission, covered all his own costs, and spent most of his life on the road. Having offered to sell Thule’s products in Europe, he quickly became the company’s unofficial export manager. As soon as the contract was signed, Torp Pedersen headed south with a car full of demo products and shortly thereafter the teleprinter began rattling out orders from Switzerland, Germany, Austria, England and Denmark.

A CLASSIC IS BORN AT A CAMPGROUNDWhile Torp Pedersen was barreling down the autobahn and spreading Thule’s name across Europe, Willis and his family traveled to Norrland with a camper in the summer of 1967. The vacation, however, was also spent thinking about how to speed up the production of Thule’s roof racks. At the time, the design included a bent tubular frame that was both complicated to produce and took up too much space in the box.

But how could they get around that problem? At a campsite in Örebro Willis had a flash of genius and drew up a new design involving a corner piece made of die-cast zinc to connect the frame to the foot. It would be cheaper to produce, easier to transport and simpler to stock. Once again, Thule had come up with an innovative solution that left the competition trailing in its wake.

The new roof basket was registered for design protection and launched as the Thule Classic in the spring of 1968. Torp Pedersen immediately recognized its export potential. He brought the Thule Classic with him to Britain and made a successful sale to the importer Harry Moss, who had soon placed orders in excess of one million kronor.

WIDENING THE GAP THROUGH PRODUCT DEVELOPMENTThe reason Thule was able to strengthen its grip on an increasingly competitive market for roof racks and ski carriers in the latter half of the 1960s can be summarized in two words: product development. The company kept making improvements to its ski carriers and roof racks, and one by one its competitors dropped out of the market.

Another important piece fell into place in 1968 when an 18-year-old named Jan-Ivar Arvidsson began working as a toolmaker at Thule. He quickly became a creative sounding board on which Willis, the ideas man, could test his concepts. In the years to follow, these two would be behind many of Thule’s product development successes.


JAN-IVAR ARVIDSSON: We didn’t draw the designs back then; we just built prototypes right away. Then we’d discuss it and make alterations until we had a prototype we believed in and from that we designed the tools and machines. I got to be involved in the entire development process, from idea to finished product.

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“START WITH PLASTIC, AND WE’LL BUY IT”Of the three Thulin brothers, Bertil, the youngest, was the only one who didn’t work for Thule. One day at the end of the 1960s, he told Willis that he felt the time had come to set up something of his own but he didn’t really know what. “Start with plastic fabrication and I’ll buy plastic parts from you – we need them for our racks,” said Willis.

No sooner said than done. In true Gnosjö Spirit, Bertil Thulin started his own plastic manufacturing business at the same location that had witnessed Thule’s development: the converted washhouse on the farm in Österskog. His brothers and Thule formed the nucleus of his customer base.

THULE, THE BEST IN CAR ROOFSThule was doing well now. Turnover in 1969 had doubled over two years to 3.6 million kronor. That same year, Willis and Jack decided to refine the company their father had started 27 years earlier. From now on, Thule would focus solely on car roofs. Everything else, from headlamp grilles to head restraints and snow shovels, would be discontinued. But just making products for car roofs wasn’t enough: Thule wanted to be the best in the business.

It was a tough decision, but both the timing and the balance sheet indicated that it was the right one. The recreation and motorist industries were growing like crazy and more and more Europeans were buying roof racks and ski carriers for vacations and sports travel. The company entered the 1970s under very different circumstances than when the sole proprietorship Metallfabriken Thule became Industri AB Thule ten years earlier. The foundations were laid. Now it was a case of building on them.

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WILLIS THULIN, CEO 1960 – 1987

The term ”cunning Smalandian” must have been coined with Willis Thulin in mind. Born the eldest son of Erik Thulin, founder of Thule, in 1936, Willis literally grew up within the company, which was then located at the farm in Österskog, just outside Hillerstorp.

Willis began working for the company right after school in 1951 and was actively involved for 36 years, most of the time as the company’s managing director and chief product developer.

He is married to Kerstin, and their sons, Håkan, Peter and Michael, have all worked at Thule. Aside from his work, Willis’ strong interest in community issues has also led him to be locally involved in the Liberal People’s Party, the Filadelfia Church and “Hela Människan*,” an organization that carries out social work based on Christian principles.

He enjoys driving his Mercedes GLK out into the woods where he can concentrate on his main outdoor hobby: hunting. His favorite among all Thule products? “I’d probably have to say the 1061 system.”

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1962 THE FIRST SKI CARRIER: The beginning of Thule as a manufacturer of ski carriers for cars. This provided a simple solution to the problem of transporting skis, and it was also of better quality than what was available on the market thanks to its much wider feet. Thule’s first ski carrier continued on for many years as an inexpensive alternative and was often seen carrying lumber, ladders and other bulky items.

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1968 CLASSIC 68 ROOF RACK: The Classic 68 was the first roof rack that customers could assemble easily using just a few tools.

Classic 68 had a stable carrier basket with plastic coated steel tubing and cast aluminum corners. This made it possible to sell the product in a smaller, more manageable package.

The result was a roof rack with higher quality and that was easier to use. It became a bestseller that cemented Thule’s leading position.

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1968 QUICK FASTENER FOR CLASSIC 68 RACK: The Classic 68 roof rack could be obtained with two feet; a traditional fastener with screws (see previous page), and a quick fastener with no loose parts.

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“An entirely new way of thinking”

1970 – 1979: A NEW WAY OF THINKING

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With the 1970s beginning as brightly as the 60s had ended, Thule once again doubled its turnover in the first three years of the decade.

In 1973, however, the company came close to suffering a million-kronor setback when the international oil crisis landed their British importer, Harry Moss, in financial trouble.

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M OSS MANAGED TO PAY back most of what he owed to Thule. He was eventually declared bankrupt when just 50,000 kronor of the debt remained unpaid. Although Thule’s loss ended up being relatively modest, Moss was determined to put things right. He soon set up a new business and began ordering roof racks from Thule once more.

Although Harry Moss was not trading in quite the same volumes as before, his order of 70,000 roof racks for the year still represented a huge deal for Thule. Moss, however, could not accept that his bankruptcy had meant a loss of 50,000 kronor for Thule. He would not be satisfied until he had reimbursed the company. When all the negotiations were over, he walked into Willis Thulin’s office and said: ‘Now I want you to add one krona to every roof rack until I’ve paid off the 50,000 you lost in the bankruptcy.’

LOCKABLE SKI CARRIERS PROPEL THE FIRM FORWARDThat same year, Thule launched a new product that had a major impact on the market – Europe’s first lockable ski carrier. Willis had seen these kinds of ski car-riers during a visit to the United States and after returning home Thule developed a version of their own, which they named Luxus. Despite the major price difference – regular carriers cost 12 kronor at the time, while Luxus cost 69 kronor – the product was an immediate success. In the first year, Thule sold 5,000 lockable ski carriers. Once again, the company had pulled away from its competitors.

At a relatively small company like Thule, employees were always immediately aware of whether a new product was successful or not. When the lockable ski carriers became a hit, a lot more work was quickly generated and three more people were added to the existing work force in order for production to keep pace.

THULE BUYS ITS FIRST COMPANYBy 1974, the competition in roof racks and ski carriers had shrunk to the extent that there were only three other companies left on the market: Mont Blanc, Hema and JOS. The two latter firms were losing money, and ended up in the portfolio of Svetab, a state-owned risk capital investment company. Svetab was now wonde-ring if Thule might be interested in buying the two companies in a package deal.

Both Hema and JOS were based in Sweden. Hema was located in Kalix and made roof racks. JOS was in Malung and had developed a product that resembled nothing else on the market. It was a type of rack with different accessories for mounting skis, bicycles, canoes, roof baskets, etc.

JAN-IVAR ARVIDSSON: Product development has always been important to Thule. We wanted to provide added value for our customers to ensure they got value for money in terms of quality, durability and usability. On the other hand, we weren’t shy with our prices and were never the cheapest alternative.


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The deal was contingent on Thule maintaining production in Kalix, whereas the Malung business could be moved down to Hillerstorp. Since the Kalix firm made collapsible roof racks that were expensive and complex to produce, Thule decided to turn down the deal. In the spring of 1975, however, they received a renewed offer. This time, the deal would only involve buying the Malung plant. Thule opted to go for it.

Willis had grown interested in JOS’s rack concept. Having sketched a similar idea himself, he was aware of its advantages. It was a new, clever way of thinking. A robust product that could be adapted according to what one wanted to transport and would enable the development of a modern rack system. A system that would be easier to use, more convenient to store and less expensive overall for the consumer.

JOS, however, had set their prices too low and had not managed to make the product profitable. In his first encounter with JOS’s biggest customer, Volvo, Willis raised the price by 50%. Volvo accepted the new price and suddenly the racks were making money.

The JOS deal also included a stock of 15,000 slightly obsolete roof racks that had been sold to importers in Britain and Australia. The British customer had gone under during the oil crisis, so Thule contacted the Australian importer and invited him up to Hillerstorp, using the 15,000 roof racks as a lure. He came, bought every last one, and another problem was taken care of.

THE 1050 SYSTEM – A MILESTONEAfter buying JOS, Thule began taking a closer look at the rack system. The toolmakers in Hillerstorp soon discovered that although it was a fantastic idea, neither the tools nor the machines measured up. They quickly set about developing new tools and machines and before long production of Thule’s first rack system was up and running. It was launched in the spring of 1975 as the Thule 1050 and consisted of a rack that could be fitted with four separate accessories. There were three accessories that carried skis, bicycles and boats, and the fourth was a roof basket.

The 1050 system was a turning point, and not just for Thule. In the longer term, this new way of thinking would become the new industry standard. In the Netherlands, the product was greeted with such enthusiasm that it was launched as the “Imperial”. Back in Hillerstorp, Thule waited for its competitors in Sweden and around Europe to release variants of their own. Strangely enough, the system was not copied as quickly as everyone had expected it to be. Instead, competitors seemed to have their hands full developing variations of the lockable ski carrier that Thule had released a few years earlier.

PER THULIN: We were on our way up to Åre to go skiing when dad pulled in at a factory in Malung. “I’m just going in for a quick look. Wait here,” he said. Then he was gone for ages and when he came back he had bought the factory.

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PRODUKT: 1050-systemet STORLEK: 196x78x33 ÅR: 2003-2010

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1975 THE 1050 RACK (FOR CARS WITH RAIN GUTTERS): In autumn 1974 Thule bought the company JOS, which had developed a roof rack system with great potential. After Thule’s toolmakers developed new and better tools and machines, the first Thule roof rack system was launched in the spring of 1975 as the Thule 1050.

It consisted of a rack that could be supplemented with four accessories for skis, bike and boat, plus a roof basket.

The 1050 system represented a new way of thinking, a turning point for Thule that would become a new standard.

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JAN-IVAR ARVIDSSON: While they fought tooth and nail to compete on price for lockable ski carriers, we were left alone with our racks for several years. By the time they got around to copying the 1050 system, the race was more or less already won since we’d had such a head start. They never really caught up.

WILLIS THULIN: I weighed it in my mind, wondering whether I should let go of that information. But eventually I decided to help them out. So I explained where the problem lay and how he would need to change his tools for everything to work.

The increase in turnover from 1973 to 1979 tells its own story. In six years, Thule’s turnover went from 8 million to 28 million kronor, 75% of which went to the export market. However, the battle for rooftop product domination wasn’t so intense that it prevented people from lending a helping hand, even to a competitor.

Thule had purchased a machine that came with a misleading instruction manual. Half a year passed before finally figuring out how to get it working. It turned out that Mont Blanc, Thule’s main competitor at that time, had bought an identical machine. They had also failed to get the machine working. Eventually Mont Blanc’s slightly desperate managing director called Thule to ask how they had managed to get it working.

“ACCESSORY 11” THE FIRST SKI BOXDuring the 1970s, Alpine skiing became increasingly popular. In Sweden, the new ski sensation, Ingemar Stenmark, was a major contributing factor. Although Ingemar already had a sponsorship deal with Saab, Thule also managed to sign a separate agreement with him. Ingemar now began appearing in Thule’s catalogs, pictured wearing a national team jacket and standing beside a Saab 99 equipped with a Thule ski carrier.

With people’s interest in skiing gathering momentum, it was now time to start thinking about a new accessory for the 1050 system: a roof box for skis. Packline, a firm based in Strängnäs, Sweden had already introduced a ski box, so Thule would be the second on the Swedish market when it launched the TB-11 in 1977. Thule’s ski box was a basic vacuum-formed construction with room for two pairs of skis. It was a rather small box, with a design similar to that of a ski case.

But Thule had difficulties with the first boxes and the company was never really happy with its first expansion into the roof box market. The boxes were produced in small quantities and there were constant quality issues, especially with the finish.

Give up or come up with something better? Making that choice has always been quite easy for Thule, something the roof box market would discover a few years later.

JAN-IVAR ARVIDSSON: We weren’t particularly proud of what we’d come up with. In the end we felt that we either had to make a proper box or just forget about making boxes altogether.


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Stenmark fever brings Sweden to a standstil lWhen the 18-year-old Ingemar Stenmark notched his first World Cup victory in 1974 at Madonna di Campiglio in Italy, Sweden was suddenly gripped by Stenmark fever. Every time Ingemar participated in a tournament, the pace of life slowed considerably. When it was his turn to actually race, it felt like the entire nation came to a complete standstill. In schools and workplaces, restaurants and hospitals, streets and town squares, people stopped whatever they were doing and gathered around the nearest TV.

Ingemar competed in the giant slalom and slalom events. He was so superior to his opponents that he sometimes won by several seconds, an incredible feat in a sport where times are measured in hundredths of a second. He won the World Cup three times running and still retains the record for the most wins in individual events.

Ingemar was loved not only for his fantastic talent on the slopes, but also for his legendary reticence. The following radio interview with sports journalist Åke Strömmer, broadcast just after Ingemar made his breakthrough, is a prime example. Do you play any other sports, like football for instance

Ingemar Stenmark: No.

But you go running in the mountains a bit?

Ingemar Stenmark: Yes, a little bit.

Because you are aware that you made your international breakthrough this winter...?

Ingemar Stenmark: Yes.

...and you have to keep that up now, you have to become better than you were last year!

Ingemar Stenmark: Yup.

What has Olle Rohlén* said that you ought to do?

Ingemar Stenmark: He hasn’t really said anything...

But what were you two doing in Italy now then?

Ingemar Stenmark: We were skiing.

* Ingemar’s trainer

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1977 TB-11 SKI BOX: Thule’s first ski box was launched under the name TB-11 and was a simple vacuum-formed roof box made of ABS plastic with room for two pairs of skis. Thule catalogs of the late 70s often showed Ingemar Stenmark photographed next to a Saab fitted with Thule’s blue and yellow ski box.

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THULE BECOMES PART OF ELDONIn 1979, Thule arrived at a new crossroads. The Thulin family had been approached by Eldon, a firm based in Nässjö, Sweden that had built up a group of companies with international operations. They were now interested in buying Thule.

Eldon was founded in 1922 by Josef and Karin Randholm and started out as a small electronics firm. With its mix of invention and entrepreneurship, the company had grown in stride with the expansion of electricity. In 1974, the company was listed on the stock exchange, mainly because Swedish tax law in the 1970s made it almost impossible for a younger generation to take over ownership of a family company. The majority of shares, however, remained in the hands of the founding Randholm and Skeppner families.

After being listed, Eldon took heed of contemporary diversification theories and set about broadening their operations beyond electronics in order to spread their risks (and increase profitability). Within a few years, they had put together a mixed portfolio of companies all located in the near vicinity: Göte-Möbler (leather armchairs), AB Kronqvist & Larsson (control cabinets), Götarps Industri (metal parts), Ossi Carlsson (electronics), and Gisebo Vagnindustri (trailers). Thule was to become Eldon’s sixth company acquisition in four years. The Thulins sold their family business for 15 million kronor and on January 1, 1979, Thule became a part of the Eldon Group.

WILLIS THULIN: We had received inquiries from other companies but Eldon was the only one that felt right. They had a similar industrial background and had established themselves on the export market. We felt it would be the right environment for us.

A FIRM GRIP ON THE EXPORT MARKETExport sales explained much of Thule’s steady growth. From the mid-1970s, more and more of the company’s sales were being generated in Germany, while Switzerland and Austria also proved lucrative. In addition, Thule was doing good business in Norway, Denmark and Britain. Japan had also been on the map ever since an import firm named Far East Trading contacted Thule in 1973, though only a few small deliveries came of it.

The time had now come for Thule to take more control over its export business, which, since 1967, had been left entirely in the hands of Johannes Torp Pedersen. Pedersen may not have had the export office in his pocket, but exactly where it was located was a bit unclear – all anybody knew for sure was that it wasn’t in Hillerstorp.

Thule had occasionally tried to convince Pedersen to use Hillerstorp as a base, but he preferred to run all his operations from an office in Denmark – at least when he wasn’t on the road, which was most of the time. In the end, the situation became untenable. International sales had grown so much during the 1970s that it was no longer possible for a single person to manage it all. A decision was taken to move the export business up to Hillerstorp in order to get a better overview of the situation. In early fall, the company took on the young export salesman David Stener. His first task was to establish an export department together with Johannes Torp Pederson at the company headquarters in Hillerstorp.


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DAVID STENER: The company basically had no control over what was happening out on the market and was now demanding the creation of a separate, in-house sales organization.

The first challenge was to locate Johannes Torp Pedersen, who had disappeared and been unreachable for several months. When contact was finally made, Pedersen said he did not want to move to Hillerstorp and handed in his resignation. It soon became apparent that Thule knew little about the company’s sales abroad. Pedersen had run everything and Willis had only met a handful of the company’s customers. They know who the company had delivered products to, but that was about it.

There was only one thing to do - contact all of Thule’s international customers by telephone and fax. Doing so quickly revealed that in Germany alone there were seven or eight customers who all believed they owned the sole rights for Germany and Austria. Fall 1979 was therefore dedicated mainly to calling customers and arranging to meet them as soon as possible.

NEXT STEP: USAWith the 1980s approaching, Thule could look back on an eventful decade in which innovations like the 1050 system had strengthened the company’s market position. Major challenges lay ahead, however, and it was vital to grab hold of the export business if Thule was to maximize its international potential.

There was also the matter of how Thule would adapt to the transformation from independent family firm to its new role as part of the Eldon Group. Meanwhile, the greatest opportunity of them all – the United States – lay shimmering across the Atlantic.

The coming decade would soon answer all these questions.

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“Oh, look – Thule is coming to the States!”

1980 – 1989: THULE COMES TO THE US

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The agreement with Eldon stipulated that Willis and Jack Thulin would continue to run the company as before. The only difference was that they now had to report back to Eldon. Josef Randholm’s advancing years meant he had long since taken a back seat at Eldon. The company was now run by his son, Gunnar Randholm, a dynamic individual who was accustomed to getting his own way. But so was Willis, and in January 1980 these two headstrong company chiefs locked horns for the first and last time.

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O NE OF GUNNAR RANDHOLM’S IDEAS was for Eldon’s British subsidiary to take over Thule’s sales in Britain. Eldon’s agency was not doing so well and could have used the extra business. This, however, meant that Thule would have to terminate its agency agreement with Harry Moss. For Willis, this was unthinkable, particularly considering how Harry had handled his bankruptcy in 1973.

The discussion progressed to the point that Willis indicated he would vacate his position unless he was permitted to run Thule in the manner he felt was best. He also promised, however, that he would not hesitate to ask for help in the future if he ever reached a point where he could no longer do the job himself. Randholm fell silent for a while before muttering: “OK, do what you want.” After that, the new owners never made any further attempts to discuss how Thule should be run.

MAPPING OUT THE EUROPEAN MARKETIn spring 1980, the time had come for Thule to establish a firm grip on the export market. First and foremost, this meant tracking down and getting to know the European customers, most of which were in the car accessories business. The next step was to begin working on three priority export markets: the United States, Canada and Japan.

Willis and David Stener set the wheels in motion by driving south to Germany, Austria and Switzerland, not stopping until they had paid a visit to each and every customer. The trip through Europe showed that Thule’s network of importers was far too disordered. Some were in competition with each other, others were running businesses out of their homes, and some were selling Thule’s products across national borders. Thule realized that the export business would have to be built on long-term cooperation with a smaller number of importers. These would have to be financially sound and having the knowledge and market sensitivity necessary to strengthen the brand within different segments.

Thule’s renewed push in Europe also led the company to participate in two major German trade fairs in the fall of 1980: the Ispo sports fair in Munich and the Automechanika car accessories fair in Frankfurt. It quickly became apparent that Thule had most to gain from focusing on the car accessories industry. The sporting goods trade in Europe was made up primarily of centrally located stores with too little storage space to justify stocking cumbersome carriers for skis or windsurfing equipment.

WILLIS THULIN: Gunnar Randholm had a strong, dominant personality, but we had a lot of respect for each other and had no problem saying what was on our minds.


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“GOOD LUCK, ÅKE!”With a grip on the situation in Europe, the time had now come for the company to set its sights on perhaps the biggest challenge it had yet faced: introducing Thule in North America.

Åke Skeppner was the eldest son of Arthur and Alice Skeppner. Together with the Randholm family, they controlled the Eldon Group through the voting rights of their class A shares. Considering Alice Skeppner was also Gunnar Randholm’s sister, Åke was very much part of the Eldon family. Having moved to New York to study a few years earlier, he now worked for the Swedish Trade Council while at the same time establishing Eldon’s subsidiary in New York. In 1980, Åke was the driving force behind the first attempts to sell Eldon’s products in the U.S.

THULE, GO HOME!Thule made its debut on the U.S. market in November of 1980. The company had reserved space at the APAA car accessories fair in Atlanta and Willis Thulin and David Stener made their way over from Hillerstorp. Filled with expectation, they set up a stand showcasing the revolutionary 1050 system and all its smart accessories destined to take the American market by storm. But they were received with a collective yawn.

Not only did representatives of the American car accessories business consider Thule’s products far too expensive, they also had no interest whatsoever in the kind of systems concept that was so important to the Swedes. The first encounter with the American market served as a wake-up call for Willis Thulin. The quality of American roof racks was very poor and they were being sold at half the price of Thule’s products. What’s more, they could only be found in grimy auto accessories stores and garages.

DAVID STENER: Once Gunnar Randholm heard about our plans, he said that if Thule was going to enter the U.S. market Åke Skeppner would be the right man for the job. Åke was working for the Swedish Trade Council in New York and Gunnar was planning to set up Eldon Group of America Ltd, a company that would sell Eldon’s entire product range on the American market.

ÅKE SKEPPNER: The first container that arrived from Sweden was filled with Thule’s roof racks, Eldon’s control cabinets, and leather armchairs from Göte-Möbler. There was also a pair of work overalls and a note that read: “Good luck, Åke!”

ÅKE SKEPPNER: We stood there with our metal parts trying to explain the genius of our system, but no one got it. Opposite us was a guy selling stickers and flags who felt he should give us some pointers, so he came over and said: “When somebody from Kmart enters your stand, let go of everything else and zero in on him because they’re big buyers. Drop the small ones and go for the big buyers”. But this was no problem for us because there were no big customers at our stand. In fact, there were no customers at all.

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THE SPORTING GOODS SECTOR – A BETTER ALTERNATIVEDuring a few days of intensive brainstorming in Florida, David and Åke scrutinized the American retail network and compared Thule’s prices with those of its competitors. The American car accessories business was a lot more garage-oriented than its European counterpart. Car accessories were sold in grimy environments where in some cases both new and used accessories were sold side-by-side. Willis, Åke and David gradually began to realize that the car accessories business might not be the right market for Thule in the U.S.

They decided instead to try getting a foot in the door with sporting goods retailers. For one thing, the stores offered a much better environment for displaying Thule’s products. Furthermore, the sporting goods sector was not as price sensitive as the car accessories market.

In February of 1981, David Stener traveled to the U.S. to exhibit Thule’s products at the NSGA sporting goods fair in Chicago. Åke Skeppner rented a car and met him at the airport right in the middle of a blizzard. David had Thule’s stand packed away in several boxes. Since they didn’t have a roof rack to fit the car, they put the boxes on the roof and secured them with rope. They then headed out to the exhibition hall and began setting up their stand the evening before the fair would open.

WE WANT THULE!The exhibition area was already crawling with “independent reps” the evening before the fair even opened. Reps sold on a commission basis to sporting goods stores, and were always looking to unearth hidden gems and sign deals before their competitors got a chance. This time, Thule received a completely different kind of welcome than it had at the Atlanta car accessories fair.

As it happened, people in the sporting goods sector already knew about the 1050 system. Americans who were into windsurfing and skiing had seen it during visits to Europe. David and Åke had barely finished putting up a sign bearing Thule’s logo before people came along and starting calling out: “Oh look – Thule’s coming to the States”. Several firms were eager to secure commercial rights, and one rep wanted to sign a deal that very evening.

ÅKE SKEPPNER: We were at the fair for four days and didn’t make a single contact. Nobody was interested. Afterwards, we went to Florida to think about the situation and to figure out what we would do.

WILLIS THULIN: We had systems for windsurfing equipment, skis and canoes – valuable goods that needed to be transported in a secure way. As it turned out, we happened to be in the right place at the right time to introduce Thule’s products in the U.S

DAVID STENER: We didn’t have any agency contracts with us, so we had to go to the guy at the next stand and borrow some from his company. We then used correction fluid to remove their name and replaced it with Thule’s.


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Thule had chosen a good time to set up shop in the U.S. In the late 1970s, more and more Americans had started spending time participating in outdoor activities like cross-country cycling, windsurfing, canoeing and skiing. This fast-growing trend had the word “outdoor” as its mantra. The decision to enter the market through the sporting goods sector was an important lesson for the future. The term “non-traditional segments” was coined to explain this tactic that could be used to find openings into tricky markets.

Thule also noticed that three of its competitors from Europe were in the U.S.: one French company and another from Italy joined Mont Blanc from Sweden. Mont Blanc’s sales manager and CEO had even sat next to Willis and David on the flight over to the APAA fair in Atlanta. While Thule eventually chose the sporting goods route, however, the three other companies opted for the car accessories niche and ended up leaving the American market a few years later having suffered heavy losses. Thule, by contrast, managed to break even in its first year.

WINDSURFING – THE MOST POPULAR TRENDInitially, the Thule product that sold the best in the U.S. was a carrier for wind-surfers. The sport had already enjoyed a popularity boom spanning several years, with board sales in Europe alone reaching 400,000 in the top seasons. People in the U.S. had fallen headlong for the sport, creating major demand for reliable roof racks on which to transport the boards. Thule’s reputation for high quality quickly gave the company an enormous boost and opened the door to the U.S. market.

Windsurfing differed slightly from other sporting activities in that it had its own, somewhat bohemian subculture, with sunburned “surf bums” as its guiding stars. As Thule’s sole representative in the U.S., Åke Skeppner began building up a contact network in a world he knew very little about. When he heard about an upcoming windsurfing fair in Newport, he decided on a whim to drive up from New York even though he had no exhibition space. There he met an acquaintance who had attended “The Swedish Challenge”, an exhibition Åke had organized for the Swedish Trade Council during the America’s Cup. His contact arranged for Åke to get a space in the parking lot where he was able to display Thule’s racks. He sold the products directly from the trunk of his big station wagon.

Thule set about methodically establishing a network that enabled direct contact with small stores. The strategy was just the opposite of the European approach, where Thule worked with major distributors and never sold directly to stores. This grassroots tactic turned out to be exactly the right way to go. By joining hands with the sports stores, Thule was able to get closer to the American consumer. Within a few years, the Swedish newcomer had tightened its grip on the U.S. market. A survey carried out in the mid-1980s showed that Thule was represented in 85% percent of all American stores selling windsurfing products.

ÅKE SKEPPNER: I probably didn’t sell very much, but I made contact with all the board manufacturers and exchanged a few roof racks for windsurfing boards that I was able to use for display purposes. It wasn’t especially professional, but the industry was still very much in its infancy.

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“SEE YOU IN THE ROUND BAR”The ski industry was also a growth area for Thule in the U.S. and the company’s Swedish roots proved to be asset that strengthened trust in the products. When Thule got its first opportunity to meet with the American ski industry at the 1981 SIA trade fair in Las Vegas, Åke Skeppner found his way to a prime location: The Round Bar at the Hilton Hotel.

THE END OF THE RAIN GUTTERSThe American undertaking was not the only positive for Thule as the 1980s got off to a flying start. Turnover increased from 39 to 69 million kronor from 1980 to 1982 and Eldon had every reason to be pleased with its new acquisition. There was one dark cloud on the horizon, however. The international car industry was increasingly producing cars without the rain gutters that Thule relied on to mount its racks. This was more than simply a challenge; it was a game-changer that required an entirely new way of thinking.

Automakers had realized that it was easier to manufacture cars without rain gutters. They could produce cars more cheaply by hiding the welding seams. It was of no concern to them that aftermarket suppliers like Thule used the gutters to mount roof racks.

The disappearance of the rain gutters posed a problem for all roof rack manufac-turers. There was no time to waste in finding a solution to a problem that would set the tone for the next generation of products. The American Ford Taurus, the Japanese Honda Accord and the German Audi 100 had already come onto the market without rain gutters and more models were about to follow suit. There was no choice but to quickly adapt to the new circumstances. Åke Skeppner had already seen a Japanese roof rack on a car without rain gutters while in California and called home to Sweden in the middle of the night to place Hillerstorp on high alert. Thule would have to come up with a solution of its own, but it was no easy nut to crack.

THE 1061 SYSTEM – A REVOLUTIONIn 1982, febrile attempts to solve the problem were being made in Hillerstorp. One night, Willis woke up with the solution clear in his mind – only to fall back asleep and forget everything. A few nights later, however, it all came back to him and he immediately put pen to paper. The idea was to develop a universal foot for attaching racks to the edges of car roofs that could be modified to fit each individual model.

ÅKE SKEPPNER: We didn’t have a lot of representatives in the U.S. at that point, but this was where the entire ski industry gathered every day after the fair had closed. I settled in there from early evening until midnight and it’s probably fair to say that the foundations for Thule’s success with the American ski industry were laid in The Round Bar at the Las Vegas Hilton.


JAN-IVAR ARVIDSSON: The passing of the rain gutter separated the wheat from the chaff. Suddenly, making racks was a tricky business. They had to be specially adapted for every car.

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Willis tried the idea out on Jan-Ivar Arvidsson in the tool shop. The pair had formed something of a telepathic understanding when it came to product development. Their harmonious collaboration was founded on their constant attempts to discover the flaws in each other’s ideas.

One innovative feature on Thule’s new rack enabled both the foot bracket and the main bar to be locked in place by turning a small knob on the foot. What was unique, however, was that identical racks were supplemented with individual anchor points for each different car model. The idea would later be launched as the Thule 1061 and the first car without rain gutters that Thule made a rack for was the Audi 100. The system was to be the company’s biggest success so far, pushing the firm into a league of its own in the fast growing market for racks designed for cars without rain gutters.

EVERY CAR MUST BE MEASUREDThere was one hitch, however. Since the 1061 system was built on the idea of unique attachments for every car, the company had to acquire the exact measurements for every new car model. This was easier said than done. Since auto manufacturers were not particularly interested in roof racks, Thule never received any of the necessary roof dimensions during the development of new car models. Instead, the only alternative was to visit each manufacturer and measure the dimensions on site.

Thule needed to develop a measuring device that would make it possible to map out the roof profiles of different cars. Willis and Jan-Ivar Arvidsson spent a long time trying out unsuccessful ideas. One evening in early 1984, however, Jan-Ivar was struck by an idea that he presented to Willis the next morning. Willis said: “Make a prototype right away and we’ll go to the U.S.” Soon the two were traveling around the east coast of the United States measuring every car they could find that did not have rain gutters.

It wasn’t long before Thule employees equipped with measuring devices were knocking on the doors of the world’s automakers every time a new model was introduced. Prototypes were then produced and tested on the cars before production got underway.

Thule’s problem-solving workshop, however, sometimes ran into unexpected difficulties. At one point in the mid-1980s, Willis’s son, Per Thulin, was working out of the U.S. office and measuring the roof profiles of new car models. He would fax his drawings to Hillerstorp where new prototypes were produced and sent over for testing.

WILLIS THULIN: I would go down to him after drafting an idea, only to hear: “Nah, that won’t work”. Then I’d ask him to think about it. “Take a few days to consider it because I really think this is how it should be.” And by the time I came back he could very well have changed his mind. “Well, maybe it will work after all.”

JAN-IVAR ARVIDSSON: We turned each other’s ideas upside down in order to find their weaknesses. I tried to rip his ideas apart and he tried to do the same to mine. But if we couldn’t find any weaknesses we realized that it probably was a really good idea. Then we’d test it.

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1980 THULE COMBIBOX: Design-wise, Thule’s second roof box of vacuum-formed ABS plastic was a precursor to Combibox 250, the hit of the 1980’s. It was a forward thinking idea in that it could be used to load more than skis. But it was small, felt somewhat unstable and never became a commercial success.

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1982 THE 1061 RACK FOR CARS WITHOUT RAIN GUTTERS: The 1061 rack system was the first on the market with a base rack and individual kits for cars without rain gutters. This gave Thule the ability to develop racks for most cars on the market as only a bracket and a foot plate needed to be produced for each car model.

It was relatively easy for retailers to stock the products because only four base racks and a number of kits were needed. The 1061 system with its flexibility and ability to be adapted to different cars gave Thule a sizeable head start in the market. It was also one of the first rack systems for cars without rain gutters to pass the German TÜV test according to DIN standards for loads of 75 kg.

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From then on, drawings always included graded 100 mm lines both vertically and horizontally to ensure the toolmakers in Hillerstorp could verify that the measurements were correct. The 1061 was an inexpensive and safe design that turned out to be exactly what the market needed. Thule had been first to identify the change in direction and was the only manufacturer with a solution to the problem. The new measuring device had made it possible to keep adding different car models to the range. Eventually, there were almost 300 different variations able to cover every car under the sun.

The 1061 system immediately raised the bar for entry into the market to new heights. Since most competitors were no longer able to keep up the pace, Thule was in a position to dominate the market for the foreseeable future. Once again, a clever systems approach had elevated the company above its competitors.

THE MAN ON THE CITROËN ROOFAlthough Thule was widely applauded for its smart solution, the company ran into unexpected problems when seeking to have its new rack approved by Citroën in Germany. With its steep roof gradient, the Citroën BX had proved the most difficult gutter-free car for which to produce racks. The brackets had a tendency to slip out of place and become unstable when weight was placed on the bars. Some of Thule’s competitors had solved this problem by adding an extra bar with a wire used to pull the rack together.

According to Thule, the 1061 design had solved this problem but Citroën in Germany disagreed. They compared Thule’s system with that of a competitor and argued that the Thule rack was less reliable for heavy loads. With this in mind, they were planning to choose the competitor over Thule.

David Stener and Jan-Ivar Arvidsson made the trip from Hillerstorp to convince the Germans on site. There they were met by six technicians in white coats standing beside a new Citroën BX mounted with two racks, Thule’s at the back and the competitor’s at the front. The technicians explained that the principle behind Thule’s rack was technologically unsound. Despite attempts to prove otherwise using drawings, mathematical calculations and test results, the techni-cians could not be convinced that Thule had the best technological solution.

PER THULIN: But at one stage we were getting prototype after prototype that didn’t fit and nobody could figure out what was wrong. Eventually we realized that the fax machine wasn’t feeding the paper correctly so the drawings received were out of scale.

DAVID STENER: I became more and more irritated by the fact that they wouldn’t listen, so I climbed on top of the car and started jumping up and down on Thule’s rack. Nothing happened. Then I stood on our competitor’s rack, which immediately buckled onto the roof and fell off the car. The place fell completely silent but we got to keep Citroën as a customer in Germany. We didn’t even have to pay for the damage to the BX.


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BLOW-MOLDED ROOF BOXES – THE BIGGEST INVESTMENTThe 1061 system was not the only new product developed by Thule in the first half of the 1980s. After the first unsuccessful flirtation with the roof box market, Thule decided to abandon the vacuum technology used to create the TB-11 and focused instead on making a blow-molded box. Using a sandwich design Thule would be able to produce a box with enormous rigidity. But it was expensive to manufacture and production of the blow-molded roof box would be by far Thule’s biggest investment ever.

It soon became clear that the investment was well worthwhile. In 1984, the year the Thule Combibox 250 was launched, the company sold 7,000 boxes. The following year volumes rose to 12,000 boxes and soon Thule was selling 25,000 boxes a year. In the rest of Europe, more and more people began noticing Swedish cars mounted with roof boxes on their way to the Alps. Thule would soon become the world leader in roof boxes, but initially the Swedish invention was greeted with skepticism.

It was a completely new way of thinking and Thule had to start from scratch in every new market. The company needed to deploy all of its powers of persuasion just to get importers to buy some samples to try out on the market. Eventually demand rose – first as a solution for transporting skis and later as extra storage in general.

The Combibox 250 became yet another cash cow for Thule. It was followed a few years later by the Combibox 600, Thule’s first roof box to cover the entire car roof and a seemingly perfect product for the American market.

SILVER MEDAL IN THE SWEDISH EXPORT CHAMPIONSHIPSThule had enjoyed fantastic growth in the first half of the 1980s, with turnover passing the magical 100 million kronor barrier in 1984. The local newspaper reported that the company celebrated the feat by treating employees to traditional Swedish sandwiches while “director Willis Thulin informed them of developments”.

The news was certainly of the more pleasant kind as Thule was in midst of a skyrocketing success that had seen turnover increase by a factor of ten – from 28 million kronor in 1979 to 300 million in 1988.

Thule’s base was still Sweden and Norway, where the company’s first export custo-mer, Rhodins, continued to do fantastic business. Most of the goods produced were exported and in 1986 Thule was presented an award by Prince Bertil after finishing second in an annual competition to find Sweden’s best export company.

The company also made a few moves to hone its European distribution. In France, Thule found a new distributor through Eldon France and was able to increase its sales to the country’s major department stores. In Britain, Thule’s faithful servant Harry Moss had sold large quantities of the Classic roof rack but had never managed to achieve the same level of success with Thule’s rack systems. Thule solved this by setting up its own sales company in Britain, Thule Ltd.

DAVID STENER: The first reaction was always negative. ”You’ll never be able to sell those ugly boxes on the roof.” “What is that – a coffin or an air conditioner unit?”

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1949 – 1962; THE START

1981 OLYMPIC LOCKABLE SKI CARRIER: Olympic was Thule’s second generation of lockable ski carriers and had room for six pairs of skis that were horizontally clamped between rubber profiles.

The sheet metal construction was adjustable in width and designed for cars with rain gutters. Olympic featured a simpler design than its predecessor, Luxus, and was developed to compete with low-price products in Europe – but without compromising on quality.

With Olympic, Thule retained its market share for lockable ski carriers. The product lived on as long as there was a market for complete, lockable ski carriers for cars with rain gutters.

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1983 THULE COMBIBOX 250: When Thule launched the Thule Combibox 250 – the world’s first blow-molded roof box – the company established itself for the first time as a box manufacturer to be reckoned with. Up until then only vacuum-formed boxes and boxes of hand laid fiberglass had been available.

Blow-molding with low-density polyethylene led to a box with the rigidity of a fiberglass box and the price of a vacuum-formed box price. The result was a compact box with nearly 9 cubic feet of space that attracted a lot of attention and immediately gave Thule a significant share of the roof box market.

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1988 THULE COMBIBOX 600: Following the success of Combibox 250, Thule followed up with a roof box of full width and a capacity of 21 cubic feet, big enough to handle skis of any length as well as the cargo needs for an entire family. The blow-molded Combibox 600 was also of low-density polyethylene and had the same stable quality as the 250 box, but with a new design that covered the entire car roof.

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Business was still slow in Southern Europe however. For years, Thule had struggled to make its mark in Spain, Portugal or Italy, where competitors selling budget products dominated the markets. Eventually, the company decided to form a partnership with Italy’s largest car accessories distributor. Still believing Thule’s basic products were too expensive compared to those of its main competitor, the Italian company opted to focus solely on Thule’s premium products. While this meant that Thule ended up in an even higher price class, it also accentuated the difference in design and quality.

When Thule had finished laying out its new strategy in Italy, a dejected Italian competitor voiced his disgruntlement: ”You have already wiped us out of almost every European market – can’t you at least leave me alone on my own domestic market?”

MARKETING AND SPONSORSHIPThule had not really done much in terms of advertising yet. The company had a partial sponsorship deal with Ingemar Stenmark, and used him in its catalogs, but not much else had developed. By the mid-1980s, however, Thule’s American operation had established a real foothold and Åke Skeppner began testing the waters. He took out ads for Thule in trade publications like Ski Magazine and Outdoor Magazine.

Sponsorship was another form of marketing that Thule believed could prove effective. Windsurfing remained a popular trend in the U.S. and the company’s roof carrier had made Thule a part of the windsurfing culture. Peter Pell had re-cently been employed as sales manager with control over the company’s external sales agents, or reps. Pell had a background in the windsurfing and ski industries. He also had personal experience of Thule’s products, having previously used them to transport boards as sales manager for a company in the windsurfing business.

A perfect example was the increasingly popular snowboard trend. Beginning in the mid-80s, snowboard manufacturers began turning up at ski fairs. Manufacturers like Burton set up modest stands and didn’t appear to sell much the first few years, but the business soon took off and quickly entered a phase of explosive growth. Thule also joined in and started making snowboard carriers painted in cool colors that people believed would appeal to snowboarders.

But the biggest thing around was windsurfing and the best windsurfer in the world by far was Robby Naish. Naish had first taken to the board as an 11-year-old back home in Oahu, Hawaii and had won countless world titles since his first victory in 1977. He was a legend in windsurfing circles and at a fair in Las Vegas Thule made contact. It turned out that Naish used Thule’s windsurfing carrier and was interested in teaming up.

ÅKE SKEPPNER: We didn’t have much money so we ran a series of black and white ads that were simple and effective. But I really don’t think that was what drove sales. There was a pent up need and a rumor spread that Thule’s stuff was good.


PETER PELL: Windsurfing opened doors for Thule in the U.S. After that, it wasn’t so hard to get into other sports.

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THE SUN RISES IN JAPANIn Asia, another export market got wind in its sails in the second half of the 1980s. Thule had strengthened its position in Japan, where the brand had started to be viewed as a status symbol and was now really gathering momentum. Turnover in the Japanese market had gone from less than 1 million kronor in 1979 to 20 million in 1988. Still, that was just the beginning.

Thule’s importer, Far East Trading, had come up with increasingly radical ways of getting people to take notice of Thule. They equipped a number of cars with Thule ski carriers and loaded them with the most expensive skis that money could buy. Then their employees would drive around to all the bars and nightclubs in Tokyo’s Roppongi district where they marketed the brand as a status symbol. Their efforts produced results. Some people bought roof racks and ski carriers for cars that never left Tokyo. Others purchased stickers bearing the Thule logo to put on their cars.

Thule’s ‘cool’ factor in Japan was not exactly harmed by news that the company had signed a sponsorship deal with Robby Naish. Windsurfing was huge in Japan and Far East Trading had long wanted Thule to join forces with a famous windsurfer. Every time David Stener paid a visit, he had to regretfully explain that no progress had yet to be made, but that the search continued. Frustration was growing in Tokyo, but David happened to be in Japan just after the contract with Robby Naish was signed and the issue of windsurfing sponsorship again came up on the agenda.

Far East Trading decided to give Robby full backing every time he competed in Japan. They even designed a special four-wheel drive car that he was free to use whenever he was in the country. On one occasion, he drove onto a beach and arrived at a section that was so waterlogged the car sank until only the roof remained visible. A large crane had to be brought in to pull it up and photos of Robby and the Thule car were soon circulating in the Japanese press.

NEXT STEP IN THE U.S. – PRODUCT DEVELOPMENTDespite its success in the American market, Thule was far from being the market leader. All product development was being managed from Hillerstorp, but the U.S. market had its own dynamics and conditions.

In the mid-1980s, Thule’s branch office in the U.S. had taken a decision that was strategically important but also quite risky. The company had been selling directly to ski and windsurfing retailers, but was using separate distributors to reach the ever-growing cycling market. The decision was now made to instead use independent representatives to deal with the cycling trade.

DAVID STENER: But right then his name slipped my mind. “I’m not sure but I think his name starts with R…O…” – and I didn’t get any before everybody started screaming “Robby Naish, Robby Naish, Robby Naish”.

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It was the right decision, but the company’s growing success in the cycling market also led Thule to the realization that the American market was increasingly moving in its own direction. Roof racks were viewed as lifestyle products and American consumers were demanding new functionality. Consequently, it was getting more and more difficult to outpace or outmaneuver competitors like the California-based Yakima.

As an example, it had become more common in the U.S. to transport bicycles by removing the front wheel and loading the bike onto a fork-mounted carrier on the roof rack. Thule, however, did not make any such product. All signs seemed to indicate that it was time for Thule’s American operations to begin with some product development and lighter production of its own. This was the first step on the way to making Thule in the U.S. a more independent entity.

The first challenge was for Thule to produce a version of the fork-mounted bike carriers that dominated the U.S. market. In 1989, three product developers were taken on at Thule’s production facility in Elmsford, New York. The task of creating products specifically for the U.S. market had now begun.

The decision to develop products in the U.S. designed especially for the American market would prove to be strategically important not only for future successes in the U.S.

The decision also meant that the company would be more flexible when entering new markets in the future. The parent company’s sensitivity to the needs of each market is today viewed as one of the main reasons for Thule’s worldwide success, whereas most competitors have remained in their domestic markets.

By the time the 1980s drew to a close, the map of the world looked very different than it had when the decade begun. Thule had conquered the United States, gained a real foothold in Japan, and developed a solid structure in Europe. The fall of communism in the former Eastern Bloc had also redrawn the map of Europe in a way that would create entirely new opportunities for Thule in the coming decade. The sky was the limit.

ÅKE SKEPPNER: It was becoming increasingly clear that we had to speed up our product development. We were finding it hard to keep up with Yakima and moving product development closer to our U.S. business was beginning to feel all the more necessary.


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1982 THULE WINDSURFER CARRIER 1050-08: Thule 1050-08 was the first windsurfer carrier on the market with notches for both mast and boom, which were fastened with a strap. This was Thule’s second generation of windsurfer carriers. The first had been launched as TB-8 (Accessory 8) in 1978 and consisted of a simple bellows with yellow straps.

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“Mr. Skeppner, I guarantee you that

everything I have said is true”

1990 – 1999: GLOBAL GROWTH

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In the early 90s, Thule was once again faced with a number of important strategic decisions. With the developments in the U.S. showing what could be achieved with an enthusiastic subsidiary, Thule now wanted to build a broader European distribution network consisting of sales-oriented subsidiaries rather than the importers used thus far.

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ÅKE SKEPPNER: CEO AND PRESIDENT 1990-2002

With 30 years in the company Åke Skeppner is one of Thule’s most distinctive figures and the only member of senior management who has remained a constant fixture through all the ownership changes since 1980. Much like Willis Thulin, Åke is a “company native,” having come by way of the Eldon Group that bought Thule in 1979.

After obtaining his Bachelor of Laws degree Åke moved to New York and in 1980 began building Thule’s American operations from there. After ten years in the U.S. he somewhat reluctantly left the pulse of Manhattan for Brussels, where he took over as CEO for Eldon. He has been a board member of Thule since 2002. Åke is married to Caisa, with whom he has two daughters, Emily and Hannah. Art and music have always been a passion, preferably as expressed by Brice Marden, Torsten

Andersson and Lou Reed. Åke can occa-sionally be found at a gallery in New York with which he has always kept contact.

Skiing is his greatest outdoor interest, with kayaking as ”runner up”. Favorite Thule product? ”The roof box. It has become Thule’s shop window.”

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THE FIRST OPPORTUNITY arose somewhat by chance when the importer in Britain went out of business. Thule quickly decided to take over responsibility for the importer’s personnel and launched its British subsidiary on May 1, 1990.

The investment was a typical entrepreneurial move. It was not based on any market surveys or decisions to prioritize the British market – once the opportunity arose the company took action. The British subsidiary was not a big operation. It served more or less as a sales office manned by the managing director at the time, Jeff Younger, and five employees, which was sufficient. They were able to focus so suc-cessfully on Thule’s biggest customers that the largest of them, the car accessories and outdoor store Halfords, soon accounted for half the British turnover.

On the smaller European markets however, Thule continued to run a smaller scale sales operation using local salespeople. It was a practical and effective way of thinking that fitted in well with the company’s own down-to-earth Småland roots.

THULE BECOMES A MAJOR ROOF BOX PLAYERThule was also facing a major shift in its largest European market. The company had identified roof boxes as a major growth segment. Its main German competitor was Jetbag, a roof box manufacturer from Neumarkt in Bavaria. It just so happened that Jetbag was up for sale and on top of that its owner, Willi Lieb, insisted that Thule buy it.

Åke Skeppner had returned from the U.S. a year earlier and now directed the company’s entire car accessories business. He viewed the deal as a golden opportunity. Thule manufactured no boxes under its own roof and Jetbag was a well-run company with a major market share in Germany. Its owner, Willi Lieb, had decided to hand over the reins to somebody who could carry on his life’s work. In his view, Thule was the only company capable of preserving his legacy and continuing to build upon it. Åke and Willi Lieb, accompanied by their respective advisors, met at Willi’s home to discuss the conditions for an eventual purchase. The parties were unable to agree on a price and after a while Willi asked if he and Åke could speak in private in the kitchen.

After the deal was completed, it was important to generate a good atmosphere from the start and try to mitigate any potential culture clashes. Thule again took firm action. Åke Skeppner and David Stener traveled to Jetbag’s factory along with Jetbag’s new managing director Stig-Ove Ljungqvist and new sales and marketing manager Peter Kral. On the morning of the first working day after New Year’s in 1991, the four of them stood at the entrance of the factory and welcomed each employee in German.

ÅKE SKEPPNER: He looked me in the eye and said: ”Mr. Skeppner, I guarantee you that everything I have said is true. Shall we close the deal?” So Thule’s acquisition of Jetbag was sealed with a handshake in Willi Lieb’s kitchen.


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STIG-OVE LJUNGQVIST: We got an opportunity to introduce ourselves, tell them who we were and explain our Swedish communication methods. We told them we weren’t so formal and instead of saying “Herr” and “Frau” would use “you” and first names without meaning anything

Thule’s first major acquisition turned out to be a real hit. The two companies had plenty in common: entrepreneurship, loyalty, and cost awareness. They also shared a somewhat old fashioned way of thinking that at the same time was combined with more modern views about willingness to change, market adaptation and product development.

The acquisition of Jetbag gave Thule a manufacturing outlet in the German market. It was also now possible to replace distributors with an in-house operation. Any competitor lacking its own box manufacturing was at a disadvantage as Thule took a step up from having been viewed as mainly a supplier of roof racks. This strengthened its position with regard to retailers..

The company successfully warded off the kind of resistance that can emerge within the ranks of a newly acquired company and its customers. Staff and retailers remained positive thanks to effective internal and external communication. It also helped that Willi Lieb stayed on with the company to ease the fusion of the two separate cultures. While Jetbag had a 90% focus on the domestic market, with 10% going to export, Thule’s situation was the exact opposite.

Thule took a very gradual approach to rebranding its products in the German market. However, in the six years it took for Jetbag to finally disappear, Thule had managed to establish its brand name on the roof boxes. By contrast, boxes made for the export market were immediately rebranded Thule. Demand from Japan was so great that the ability to quickly ship large volumes was a must. To accomplish this Thule based its product on one of Jetbag’s existing boxes and added a few design elements together with Thule’s logo. At first, this did not go down particularly well with the staff at the Jetbag factory in Neumarkt.

In 1991, Monica Johansson from Hillerstorp was made product manager for the box manufacturing unit in Germany. Walking around the factory one day she was approached by one of the women working on the assembly line, who asked: “Mrs. Johansson, why are you doing this to us? You’re putting Thule’s name on our boxes. Are you ashamed of Jetbag?” Monica had to explain that the boxes were to be delivered to Japan where Thule had stronger brand recognition than Jetbag. This was soon confirmed when sales went through the roof and the company quickly needed to employ more staff at the German factory.

EVEN BIGGER IN JAPANWhile the integration of Jetbag and Thule moved along slowly, the pace of production was considerably faster. At the time of their 1991 merger, Thule and Jetbag each produced around 30,000 boxes per year. But output grew exponentially after joining forces.

ÅKE SKEPPNER: Buying Jetbag was a crucial step in Thule’s path to becoming a lifestyle company. The roof boxes served as nicely designed advertising billboards as they rolled around in different parts of the world.

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1991 THULE WEEKENDER: Weekender was one of Jetbag’s existing boxes, an all-round box with 13 cubic feet of space, which was immediately renamed ”Thule Weekender” after the purchase of Jetbag and successfully launched around the world

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1995 JETBAG ”LIBERTY 500” BY THULE: Liberty 500, with 10 cubic feet of space, was a roof box labeled with both the Jetbag and Thule brands, designed for the German market. A typical example of Thule’s cautiousness when it came to very gradually phasing out the Jetbag brand name on the strong German market, home to Jetbag.

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In the U.S., Thule had immediately taken in a small Jetbag box called the “Weekender”. They slapped on a Thule logo and sales suddenly jumped from 20,000 to 60,000 units. Within a few years, the Neumarkt plant was producing around 300,000 boxes annually, mainly as a result of the explosive growth in demand from Japan. But despite all factories working at full tilt, demand for the boxes was almost insatiable and the company recorded dizzying profits. Almost half of the Eldon Group’s profits in 1994/95 came from Thule’s business in Japan. Per Thulin, who had become sales manager for Asia in 1992, remembers clearly the clattering of the telex machine produced by a seemingly endless flow of orders from Thule’s distributor Far East Trading in Tokyo.

In 1994, Thule received an award from the Swedish Trade Council as Sweden’s best exporter to Japan. The head of Far East Trading, Akio Koyama, was awarded the Order of the Polar Star at the Swedish embassy in Tokyo. Thule was represented by Åke Skeppner and Stig-Ove Ljungqvist, who each returned from Japan bearing the embassy’s standard gift: an Orrefors vase from their home region of Småland.

Relentless demand for roof boxes presented the new company with a difficult challenge. Thule introduced second and third shifts at the Neumarkt plant, while also streamlining its product range and optimizing production flows – all for meeting the enormous demand.

The fact that things were running so smoothly was explained by the fact that the production unit in Neumarkt was fueled by the same work ethic found in Hillerstorp. There were rarely any problems getting staff to work shifts and thanks to a flexible attitude Thule was able to handle the increase in demand fairly well. In return, staff could see their commitment to the company reflected in their wallets.

TWILIGHT IN JAPANHaving completed its rapid rise to the top, Japan now began to sink like a stone. After topping out with a turnover of 211 million kronor in 1995, the decline turned out to be faster and deeper than anyone at Thule could have predicted.

During the good times in the early 1990s, a lot of people changed cars – and consequently also roof racks – every other year. In addition, Japan started to lose interest in skiing in the mid-1990s and the number of active skiers fell from 17 million to 11 million. Furthermore, Thule was a foreign player in a country that had two strong domestic competitors. All of this had a negative impact on sales.

The problems were worsened by the fact that Far East Trading had made losses on a number of failed investments. For example, they had made an ill-advised attempt to enter the trend-sensitive snowboard market. Their troubles eventually became so great that the company switched owners in 2002. Thule responded by immediately setting up a Japanese subsidiary, but the damage was already done.

PER THULIN: Thule approached the Japanese market with a degree of caution, initially demanding advance payment for every order. The major boom began in 1989 and Japanese sales rocketed for a few years. At times we were selling so much that we filled entire jumbo jets.


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SUPPLYING DIRECTLY TO THE AUTOMOTIVEINDUSTRYDuring the 1990s the acronyms OES and OEM began appearing as part of Thule’s strategy for establishing closer contact with the automotive industry. OES, short for “Original Equipment Supplier,” refers to when Thule sells a product to an auto manufacturer that in turn sells it to the consumer at its dealerships. OEM, mea-ning “Original Equipment Manufacturer,” refers to when Thule develops a product designed to be an integral part of the car.

The first time Thule had cooperated closely with the automotive industry was for an OES project with Volvo in the mid-1970s. In 1981, Thule collaborated for the first time with an international auto company, Votex, the car accessories division of Volkswagen. The first project involved producing a roof rack for the Golf A2.

These ventures were a way for Thule to get closer to the automotive industry and develop valuable insights for its own product development. At the same time, however, Thule was kept on a very tight leash and by the end of the 1980s it all seemed to cost more than it was worth.

Åke Skeppner appointed David Stener to find out why Thule’s OEM/OES efforts stalled. The resulting report indicated that Thule should establish a separate organization consisting of technology-driven salespeople. The company followed the recommendation and in 1990 David Stener was placed in charge of the business area.

Thule lobbied hard to explain the potential advantages to the automotive industry, but it was no runaway victory. When the company really started investing in OEM/OES production in 1990, one of the main driving forces was the ability to get im-portant information as early as possible through its collaboration with automakers. But the conditions were tough. In effect, Thule had to agree to reduce its costs by 2-3 percent per year. This differed greatly from aftermarket sales, where Thule was free to decide whether to raise or lower prices.

The reason for this was that the auto manufacturers owned the products. The tools and design were often theirs, and they also incurred all the marketing costs since the products were sold in their name.

FIXED RAILS – A NEW STANDARDThe first major project involved entering the market for fixed rails, which were in the process of becoming standard features on which to mount roof racks. First up was the Volkswagen Passat, which was quickly followed by the BMW 3 Series and 5 Series. Thule found itself in an unfamiliar situation requiring a more organized approach to overseeing projects and submitting tenders.

PETER KRAL: We should have set up a Japanese subsidiary earlier. We only did it after the downturn had already occurred and we were left to deal with decline rather than to organize growth.

DAVID STENER: Before 1981, the automotive industry viewed roof racks as a necessary evil that ruined a car’s esthetic appeal. It took a long time to change this.

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1990 – 1999; DISCOVER OUR WORLD

1992 THE 1054 RACK: A rack for cars with fixed rails of up to 1.8 inches in diameter. The 1054 had a foot made of sheet metal and the rubber-like plastic material TPE, plus a lockable, plastic cover.

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Volkswagen had been working on a project for the new Passat B5. Their supplier at the time had developed a product that had failed in testing. With just four months left to the launch date, things didn’t look good. The project was prioritized since it had been initiated by the Volkswagen Group’s CEO, Ferdinand Piëch, who had grown tired of ugly roof racks and wanted to see an attractive product that would suit all Volkswagen cars.

Thule was in the running to get the job since Votex was now free to sever the contract with its other supplier. The condition was that a prototype be developed within a month and a half that passed the test, something that would require additional internal resources.

Obviously Thule could not resist the challenge, having tried for several years to explain the importance of an integrated policy for car accessories. In record time Thule managed to develop a product that passed the test. The solution consisted of design that was essentially the same for all models, except with different attachments.

Pietsch liked what he saw and the success of the rails made Thule something of a ”preferred supplier” to Volkswagen for some time to come. As a result, Thule started a number of projects involving roof racks and accessories for Volkswagen, Audi and Seat, as well as other brands such as BMW, Nissan and Ford.

The biggest and most prestigious VAG projects involved developing roof racks in the late 1990s for two SUVs: Volkswagen Touareg and, above all, Porsche Cayenne. The Porsche rack was by far the most advanced Thule had ever produced. It was designed to follow the contours of the car before tailing off into a spoiler at the rear.

RELUCTANT INVESTMENT IN REAR-MOUNTED BIKE RACKSThanks to the mountain bike boom, the market for bike carriers also took off. By the end of the 1980s, however, a wide variety of rear-mounted bike carriers began to appear as alternatives to Thule’s roof-mounted solution.

The cheapest model was a towbar-mounted carrier that could be purchased at Swedish gas stations. Thule considered the simple scissors-like design highly dangerous. In Germany, rear-mounted bike carriers were banned for safety reasons and Thule’s product development department regarded these new alternatives with skepticism.

From within the company’s sales ranks came requests for the development of Thule’s own rear-mounted solutions. Most of these, however, were rejected by the development department as trash, or at least not “Thuleish” enough. Thule’s products belonged on the roof and that’s where bicycles were to be transported.

DAVID STENER: When Volkswagen displayed the cars with the new rails on the rooftop terrace of their Wolfsburg plant, Ferdinand Piëch himself suddenly came over for a look. That never would have happened in the 1970s when roof racks were seen as ugly, rusty and rattling things that the automotive industry preferred not to acknowledge.


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Much of the stimulus for new products came from the U.S. where there was a growing market for rear-mounted bike carriers. Thule’s American division presented a bike carrier prototype at one of the first joint product development meetings that was held in 1991. The prototype resembled a home brewing still with straps, and the developers were nearly laughed out of the meeting by their colleagues from Hillerstorp.

However, the Americans were convinced that rear-mounted bike carriers would continue to grow – and they were right. For one thing, many people found it hard to lift a bike onto the roof of a car. Secondly, not everyone had a roof rack on the car.

BUYING THE CLASSIC IN GERMANYAnother reason for Thule’s initial aversion to rear-mounted bike carriers was the fact that Thule’s roof-mounted versions continued to sell well amid a general bike rack boom. However, when rear-mounted bike carriers received type approval by the stringent German testing and certification lab, TÜV, even the skeptics finally realized that the system had come to stay and stopped digging their heels.

The road to developing a rear-mounted product turned out to be full of bends. In 1996 a prototype called MultiPak was developed, which Thule began manufac-turing at Eldon’s Alvesta plant. But the products were riveted using an expensive technique and production resulted in a loss.

In an attempt to at least enter the market, Thule now began looking into the pos-sibility of acquiring a company that already had a functioning product. In 1997, the company bought the rights to an established towbar-mounted bike carrier platform. Thule believed in the product, called the Classic, which had been developed by the German company MFT and was being manufactured in Turkey. The manufacturing unit was not part of the deal, which only included the patent and the right to take over production. The acquisition of Classic turned out to be as successful as the Jetbag deal. In just over a decade the company went from selling a few thousand towbar-mounted bike carriers per year to several hundred thousand.

But no one who had seen Thule’s first generation towbar-mounted bike carrier would have believed it. The carrier manufactured in Alvesta, referred to internally as “the iron bed”, was a somewhat primitive construction made with a steel frame and some simple welding. Despite its simplicity, this manufacturing process also proved too expensive and resulted in yet another loss. Something radical needed to be done.

THE FACTORY WITH A MOVIE THEATER UPSTAIRSThe major increase in demand throughout the 1990s had led to serious delivery problems and Thule’s customers were starting to lose patience. The Hillerstorp factory tried everything from outsourcing to longer working hours in an attempt to increase production. They even took on more than 100 temporary staff, but the market still wanted more. At some point in between introducing quotas for priority markets and trying to mollify irritated customers, Thule realized that another manufacturing unit was needed. For cost reasons, the company was looking for something outside Sweden and preferably in one of the former Eastern Bloc countries as China was considered too far away.

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At first, the Baltic States were in strong contention but that was before the Swe-dish-owned welding workshop Viking Pol came into the picture. The factory was located near Poznan in western Poland, not far from the German border. It took a lot of imagination to see the potential in the two-story building with its workshop on the ground level and parquet flooring upstairs that doubled as a movie theater and dancehall. The factory, which already manufactured walkers for a company based in the Gnosjö area, now began doing some assembly work for Thule.

It soon became apparent that the factory lacked the resources necessary to increase capacity to the level needed to meet rising demands. Thule therefore began to contemplate buying the factory and investing in a total modernization. The idea had a number of merits: a factory in Poland would allow Thule to profit from manufacturing; also, the location was ideal since it was close to Thule’s European customers and the box factory in Neumarkt.

In the fall of 1999 Thule took over ownership of the Viking Pol factory and began an intensive campaign to transform it into an ultramodern manufacturing unit. This would now make it possible to truly ramp up production of the towbar- mounted bike carrier, which had been renamed the Thule EuroClassic.

APPETITE FOR ACQUISITION IN THE UNITED STATESAfter ten years in the U.S., Åke Skeppner had returned to Europe in 1990 to become head of Eldon’s car accessories division, which consisted of Thule plus Eldon’s own trailer business. In 1992, he was made CEO for the entire Eldon Group and stationed at company headquarters in Brussels.

Thule’s American operation, led by new President Bruce Bossidy, retained its manufacturing unit in New York until 1992 when all operations were moved to Seymour, Connecticut. The next step was to start manufacturing roof boxes, rather than continuing with the costly process of importing boxes from Germany and assembling them in the U.S.

Initially a box production unit was established in Denver, Colorado. The venture whetted Thule’s appetite. For one thing, it became quickly noticeable just how much more effective it was to produce the products in the U.S. Furthermore, Thule was still in a state of near shock after the success of the Jetbag acquisition. The search began for other companies to buy, but few seemed to possess even a fraction of Jetbag’s potential.

One possible candidate was the box manufacturer Karrite, which dominated the U.S. box market and had its factory in Franklin Park near Chicago. The deal was sealed in 1997, a move that also strengthened Thule’s presence on the British market since Karrite operated a small production facility in Stansted just outside London.

That same year the Colorado plant was scaled down to become just a distribu-tion center for Thule products in the western U.S., and all production was moved to Franklin Park. Suddenly Thule had become the world’s largest manufacturer of roof boxes and in one particularly hectic month the Chicago factory produced more boxes than any of Thule’s competitors produced in a year.


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REAR-MOUNTED BIKE CARRIERS TAKE OFF IN THE U.S.Thule had its sights set on becoming a major player in the U.S. rear-mounted bike carrier market, but this venture took time as well. Most of the 1990s had passed without any real breakthrough. By the time the Thule’s first hitch-mounted bike carrier was launched in 1998, the market was divided to say the least. There were 17 competitors in all, the largest of which held a 10% market share.

The following year Thule really began pushing to take the lead in the market. The race began with the purchase of Rak-n-Loc, a well-established maker of cool and sturdy bike carriers favored by mountain bikers. The acquisition was a smooth one and integration with Thule’s operations went swiftly. Most importantly, it helped Thule to grow on the west coast. Seven years after the company’s entry into the U.S. market it became the market leader.

As in Europe, Thule’s focus on product development had pushed the company to the top of the pile. Every two or three years Thule came out with an innovative new product and its competitors, mostly local players, simply couldn’t keep up.

THULE RAPID SYSTEM – A DESIGN BOOSTBy the start of the 1990s, ten years had passed since the introduction of the highly successful 1061 roof rack system and it was time for a new and more modern ver-sion. The competition was heating up and in Australia, for example, Rola’s launch of aerodynamic roof racks gave an indication of where the market was headed.

Product development work got underway in 1993 with Anders Lundgren as project manager. “User-friendly” was the new mantra.The new rack system would be so easy to mount that it did not require any tools. It also had to look great.

They took the 1061 system as a template and simplified everything. There were no loose parts and no tools – everything was integrated and aerodynamic. What’s more, it would fit any car, even those with railings.

The new solution was introduced in 1996 as Thule Rapid System. While it may not have had the same revolutionary appeal as the 1061 system, it ensured that even more competitors were set adrift and the company was able to position itself as the world’s foremost manufacturer of rack systems.

THULE GETS ESTABLISHED “DOWN UNDER”Australia had been a white spot on Thule’s map of the world until Adrian van Bellen, who had emigrated from Holland, sought out Per Thulin at a trade fair.

Six weeks later Per Thulin arrived in Sydney to inspect van Bellen’s business. The importer was given the all-clear to represent Thule in Australia provided he didn’t sell any competing products. Van Bellen surprised Thulin by replying that he had no intention of selling any other products – his business would be 100% Thule from day one.

ANDERS LUNDGREN: Every detail was permeated by design thinking, so the rack’s square bar was supplemented with an elegant and aerodynamic aluminum profile.

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Per Thulin was doubtful as to whether the company’s new importer would be able to make ends meet with just Thule. But van Bellen bought a small Studebaker garage with an apartment upstairs and started his home business based solely on Thule’s products. He was facing somewhat of an uphill struggle when the first consignment from Hillerstorp arrived in Sydney in late 1990. The country’s 20 million inhabitants were spread out over a vast land mass and nobody had ever heard of Thule.

In the end van Bellen made a deal with all the retailers. They got to borrow the roof rack for a month, and if they failed to sell it they could return it. When he came back, nine out of ten had sold their racks. The message was crystal clear: the fact that Thule’s racks were more expensive than the competition’s was mainly a problem for retailers. Consumers saw the difference in function and quality and were willing to pay for it.

After a few years, however, a challenger emerged. Rola was an Australian company that had focused on a radical, aerodynamic and attractive design. Suddenly most other racks looked like clunky chunks of metal. It was a concept that would soon spread to other parts of the world.

Thule’s real breakthrough in Australia came with the launch of Thule Rapid System in 1996. Like the rest of the world, the Australians took to the new aerodynamic design and its ingenious simplicity.

EASTERN EUROPE AND OTHER NEW MARKETSWith the European and U.S. businesses operating at full steam and the company gaining an ever-stronger foothold in Australia, Thule intensified its efforts to open new markets. The company had set up a business development unit with the aim of getting established in as of then unexplored territories such as Eastern Europe, South America, Central America/Mexico, India and the Middle East.

David Stener took charge of the operation and in 1996 Thule opened distribution channels in Russia. That was followed a year later by Central and South America, before arriving in South Africa in 1998 and China in 1999.

Until 1993, Thule had not exported a single product to Eastern Europe. Once the company had set up a sales office in Poland in 1997, however, growth came relatively quickly. Starting with the Czech Republic, the business soon spread to the rest of Eastern Europe before really taking off in the first decade of the new millennium.

ADRIAN VAN BELLEN: Thule was twice as expensive as other roof racks on the market, most of which came from Taiwan. Even the Dutch roof racks I’d been selling previously were almost half the price of Thule’s. Nobody was interested.


ADRIAN VAN BELLEN: Fortunately though, it had one major disad-vantage: the racks had to be mounted by drilling a hole in the car roof, which made them less popular than Thule’s adjustable system.

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THULE’S STORE CONCEPT: WOOD AND MOOSEEver since establishing itself in the American sporting goods retail sector, Thule’s image in the U.S. was much more lifestyle-oriented compared to how the company presented itself in the somewhat stiffer and more formal European car accessories environment.

When the German car accessories chain Metro began stocking Thule in the 1980s, they demanded a more attractive presentation of Thule’s products. This was the starting point for the first attempts at developing a coherent store display system.

The concept was taken further in the 90s. To highlight the company’s Swedish origins, Thule developed a wooden store display system. In Germany it was even spiced up with the occasional moose head. The system was referred to internally as “the wooden concept”.

THULE BOUGHT OUT BY VENTURE CAPITAL COMPANYWith a turnover of 2,3 billion kronor, a position as the world’s largest producer of roof boxes, organic growth of more than 10% annually and distribution in over 60 countries, Thule was a fit and highly attractive company in 1999. The Swedish venture capital company EQT saw that there was potential for further growth. However, Thule would have to be cut loose from the rest of the Eldon Group and given a bit more freedom.

In April 1999, EQT bought the Eldon Group for 1.8 billion kronor. Eldon consisted at the time of three business divisions: Car Accessories (meaning Thule), Trailers and Control Cabinets.

Thule’s trailer business had its roots in Eldon’s diversification strategy from the 1970s. The head of the Eldon Group, Gunnar Randholm, had been inspired during his time in the U.S. by the rental firm U-Haul and had decided to invest in trailer rentals. The basic principle was that a trailer rented at one location could be dropped off somewhere else.

Eldon decided to invest in the manufacture, sales and rental of trailers. Having acquired a number of trailer manufacturers – Gisebo, Fogelsta and Tranesläpet – Eldon Rental began renting out trailers in 1981, with the gasoline company Gulf as its first customer. It was decided even to use the same colors as Gulf: blue and orange.

Eldon broadened the business in the 1990s by acquiring the Danish firm Brederup in 1997 and the Swedish horse trailer company Kylingekärran in 1997. The various trailer operations were then merged to create a separate division.

EQT’s idea was to sell off the control cabinets. They would instead focus on an aggressive growth strategy for car accessories and trailers united under the Thule brand name.

PETER KRAL: This was quite natural for the outdoor market, but it was unique in a car accessories environment. It made Thule stand out even in the European market and people thought our products were a bit more fun.”

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1992 THULE SPIRIT: With Thule Spirit the company invested for the first time in a specially designed ski box featuring a fast-paced illustration somewhere between off-piste and Spiderman. It was sold in a limited quantity as a promotional item.

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1997 THULE HANG-ON 970: Thule’s first towbar-mounted bike carrier, with room for three bicycles, was a compact and easily assembled steel construction that opened the door for Thule in the market for simpler, rear-mounted bike carriers.

With a retail price of only 30 USD, Thule HangOn 970 could compete with the so-called ”scissors”, while offering significantly greater stability and safety.

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Enjoy the ride!

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Thule made a strong start to the new millennium. It was full speed ahead for the product categories that had emerged after the company was spun off from Eldon: roof and rear-mounted bikeracks, roof boxes, railings for the automotive industry, and trailers.

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ANDERS PETTERSSON: CEO AND PRESIDENT THULE GROUP 2002-2010

Anders was at the helm during Thule’s most expansive and turbulent period, from 2002 to 2010. He is often descri-bed as a natural dynamo with a powerful energy field who always affects his surroundings.

Born and raised in Simrishamn, Anders studied in Lund where he

received an MSc in Engineering and a BSc in Business Administration. Before taking the helm at Thule he held senior management positions at Akzo Nobel and Trelleborg.

Anders is married to Nina, with whom he has Wilhelm, Emma and Albin. His passion is music and the heroes of the 70s like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd remain unchallenged. But which would he take to a deserted island, ”Led Zeppelin IV” or ”The Dark Side Of The Moon”? The answer is the latter.

Skiing is the dominant recreational activity. ”With a cottage in Norway and a family of skiers our most essential Thule product is a roof box. We’d never get by without it.”

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T HE COMPANY was among the market leaders in all product categories. Thule was the world’s number one in roof racks, roof boxes and bike carriers. It had also climbed to the number two spot in the European railings market, with customers including Volvo, Ford, Jaguar and BMW. In addition, Thule topped the Nordic trailer market. Furthermore, the expansion of the factory in Poland had led to a sharp upturn in the sales of towbar-mounted bike carriers. The problem child of the 90s would become the company’s fastest growing product segment for several years.

ALL SYSTEMS GO FOR VIKING POLThe first years of the 2000s saw continued fast-paced activity at the new factory in Poland. After the initial hesitancy surrounding towbar-mounted bike carriers, it now became clear that Thule had made the right choice with its platform bike carriers. With demand for the Thule EuroClassic far greater than anticipated, the company increased capacity at the factory as quickly as possible. Soon there were 500 people working there during peak season, 50 of whom were occupied with the continual expansion of the factory complex.

When the factory had finally reached its full capacity, the company bought two nearby granary buildings and converted them into modern production units. The once dilapidated 2,000 square meter 1940’s factory/movie theater/dancehall had grown into 40,000 square meters of highly efficient production space. All that remains of the old buildings today are the outer shells while the remnants of the old granary structures have become impossible to spot.

The next step was to create a range of bike platforms in different price classes. This was the same thinking behind Thule’s roof boxes, which were available at se-veral different levels of price and design. The result was a new mid-range product: the Thule EuroWay. All the while Thule continued designing and developing produc-ts at a feverish pace, which continuously led to new generations of bike carriers.

The third generation of the Thule EuroClassic entailed an obvious break with the original model that had been purchased through a licensing agreement. Instead, Thule had now developed a new aluminum construction. The work continued throughout the 2000s and in 2010 the company launched its sixth generation bike platform: Thule EuroClassic G6.

NEW CEO WITH GROWTH ON THE BRAINWhile many Swedish companies were still suffering from a hangover after the IT bubble had burst two years earlier, Thule just kept gathering momentum.

With the company’s new owner wanting to take the growth rate up another notch, Åke Skeppner decided the time was right to hand over the reins to the next generation. In 2001, Thule recruited a group manager with major international experience. Gunnar Brock had just left his position as group chief for Sweden’s world-leading packaging company Tetra Pak when he was brought over to Thule.

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Gunnar Brock set up a number of projects to optimize Thule’s development and manufacturing processes. But his stay at the company was short-lived. After just a few months Brock received an offer he couldn’t refuse, becoming CEO of Atlas Copco, one of Sweden’s largest companies. Less than half a year after joining Thule he was no longer in the picture.

When Gunnar Brock left Thule in January 2002, the company’s organic growth was running at a rate of 12%. EQT began to prepare Thule for a planned stock market listing in 2004. The task would fall to Thule’s new CEO, Anders Pettersson, whose appointment signaled the start of perhaps the most expansive period in the company’s history.

Pettersson brought a more extroverted leadership style to a company culture that up till then had been more focused on the products. It was evident that the company had entered a new era when the annual report contained lines like: “his mind is set on growth and his heart on rock’n’roll”. Everything was summarized by the motto “Enjoy the ride”, which the new CEO repeated to employees at every opportunity.

To begin with, Thule’s head office was moved from Brussels, where it had been located since Eldon bought the company in 1979. Malmö became Thule’s new base and two official reasons were given for the choice. First, a Swedish company should have its head office in Sweden and, second, the company would have access to a large international airport at nearby Kastrup. The unofficial reason was that Anders Pettersson lived in Malmö.

A STRONGER EMPHASIS ON ACTIVE LIFESTYLESThe next point on the agenda involved shedding the company’s somewhat dated industrial image, as evident through its legal name, Industri AB Thule. The company’s image would be realigned to more closely reflect what its products were used for: recreational activities, nature and an active lifestyle.

First, the company needed to decide what it was that defined its business. Thule was often referred to in the media as a “roof box company”, rack company”, or “car accessories company”, but internally there had long been a sense that Thule was far more exhilarating than any of these descriptions conveyed.

ANDERS PETTERSSON: My task was to increase profits and form a single company out of the three units. We eagerly studied every chapter in the book on private equity: capital rationing, purchasing management.

GUNNAR BROCK: The company culture, the vision of conquering the world and the staff’s loyalty and belief in the company all quickly became apparent in my dealings with Thule. What’s more, the products and direction corresponded with my own lifestyle, making it easy to identify with the company at both a business and personal level.

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2008 THULE XTENDER SKI CARRIER: Thule Xtender was an aerodynamically shaped ski carrier of aluminum that was the first on the market to have horizontal telescoping – a patented sliding function that made it easy to load skis without having to reach across the car roof. Thule Xtender had several smart features such as vertical adjustment to prevent the bindings from hitting against the car roof.

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2001 THULE EUROCLASSIC 913/914: The first EuroClassic model to be 100% developed by Thule in Sweden after the purchase of the German Classic platform in 1997.

EuroClassic 913/914 had a robust design that was far ahead of the competition. With the market’s first tilt function, and the ability to add capacity for as many as four bikes, it was loaded with features that would soon be widely copied.

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2008 THULE XPORTER: Thule’s first rack for pickups is a lightweight aluminum construction with a patented function for height adjustment that can be adapted to suit all kinds of cargo needs and sports equipment. Popular in both the recreational and commercial sectors, particularly in the U.S.

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2004 THULE SPIRIT: Thule Spirit was the world’s first roof box with the innovative Power-Grip mounting solution where the claws were easily tightened around the rack bar using just one hand to maneuver the knobs inside the box. The result was a roof box that could handle all of 165 lbs of weight and that set a new standard for the market.

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2004 THULE PRORIDE 591: Thule ProRide 591 is a patented and lightweight aluminum bike carrier design, launched with an innovative self-adjusting frame holder that made it easier and faster to load the bikes. The low-set knob also simplified adjustment and locking.

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The sports and recreation industries had fueled Thule’s growth since the 1960s, creating huge demand for transport solutions for skis, windsurfers and mountain bikes. It was thanks to its connection to surfing, skiing or taking a bike into the woods that the company became more than just a producer of lackluster car accessories.

A brand analysis carried out in 2004 showed that Thule could be defined according to three core values. The first was “Smart solutions,” reflecting the company’s ambition to develop products designed to bring consumers things they can truly benefit from.

The second value, ”Shared passions,” alluded to the expert knowledge and burning interest in recreational activities that distinguished both Thule and its customers. Finally, “Active lifestyle” summed up the type of personality that Thule was mainly aiming at. In order to package these values and highlight Thule’s unique position, the company was labeled “First in Sports Utility Transportation”.

Guided by the mantra ”strong past, strong future”, Thule was being groomed for a listing on the stock market that was planned for 2004. And the company’s position was undeniably strong. A brand survey carried out by a trade association for the U.S. recreation industry showed that Thule was among the country’s 20 best-known outdoor brands along with companies like Patagonia, Salomon and Timberland.

But the stock market listing didn’t happen. Instead the British venture capital company Candover bought Thule in October 2004. The deal reflected a trend at the time for Private Equity firms to buy companies from each other if they felt there was something worth developing. Candover and the new board of directors gave Thule’s top executives full authority to further accelerate the ongoing “buy and build” strategy.

THULE GROWS WIDERThule viewed the ”buy and build” strategy as a means of growing stronger through the acquisition of related companies in other segments. In order to succeed, management felt the company would have to expand its “sphere of interest” to include a larger group of products that could be associated with an active life.

Thule had just made three acquisitions in accordance with its new and broader strategy, purchasing one company in Europe and two in the U.S. The Italian firm König was the market leader in snow chains. In the U.S., Sportworks manufactu-red front- and rear-mounted bike carriers, while C&C Distributors made trailers for recreational use, mainly for the transport of snowmobiles.

Despite its German name, three Italians had founded König in Milan in 1966. One of the founders was a passionate mountain climber with a special liking for the Königspitze near the Swiss border, which partly explained the name.

ANDERS PETTERSSON: Thanks to all the years of product develop-ment, innovation and quality, the Thule brand was incredibly strong. The company had been fantastic at loading the brand with the right qualities and the results could be seen on cars all over the world.

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But there was also a more significant reason. German car accessories were more readily associated with quality than their Italian counterparts. When Thule bought König in March 2004, the company had a 20% share of the snow chain market for private cars. The company was also experiencing rapid growth in the professional segment, which included trucks, snow plows, buses, etc.

König and Thule had many of the same sales channels, i.e. car accessories dealers. However, König did not have a centralized marketing department. Instead much of the marketing was left to distributors who developed different marketing strategies for different countries. Once it had become a part of Thule, König followed Thule’s lead and centralized its marketing. By implementing more consumer-oriented communication methods, the company was now able to market snow chains as a means of getting up into the mountains, or out into the wilderness and the adventures that awaited there.

Sportsworks made bike carriers that could be mounted either front (e.g. on buses) or rear. The owners themselves initiated contact with Thule as they weren’t satisfied with how things had been developing and felt Thule could help the business to gain momentum. The assumption proved correct - four years after the takeover by Thule, Sportsworks’ turnover had quadrupled.

König and Sportworks turned out to be good acquisitions that helped broaden Thule’s product portfolio. C&C Distributors, by contrast, never really managed to become an integrated part of Thule. They were strong in the Northeastern United States and the idea was that Thule would incorporate C&C Distributors’ production methods while spreading their products to the rest of the country. But Thule never really succeeded in integrating the company and eventually decided to sell it back to its original owners.

THE BOTTLENECK THAT TURNED INTO A CORKThe successes of the 1990s and early 2000s were accompanied by increasing problems of capacity and supply. Historically, Thule had always placed product development at the center of the business. Now the company was directing its focus in varying degrees to all of its new acquisitions. However, while hunting for new products to launch and companies to acquire, critical areas such as capacity and delivery developed into a very frustrating weakness for Thule in Europe.

A whole battery of measures was eventually implemented in order to optimize production at Hillerstorp. Thule introduced the principle of ”lean manufacturing”, invested in a new business computer information system, outsourced logistics to an external central warehouse, moved production from Sweden to Poland and launched a number of major projects aimed at improving processes. The problem was that everything kicked off at the same time. Managing four projects of such magnitude at the same time proved far too much for a production division already under a lot of pressure. Each individual project was essentially correct but the company’s top leadership was unable to drive them all simultaneously.

ANDERS PETTERSSON: We were feeling invincible at the time but C&C Distributors taught us a lesson. What we learned was: “don’t buy too small, don’t buy too far away, and don’t buy family-owned companies”.

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When Magnus Welander was employed as head of the Vehicle Accessories division for Europe/Asia, one of his first tasks was to unblock the production flow. He soon realized that the firm had lost its focus on this important part of the company. New skills were badly needed, a realization that led to a generational shift in both manufacturing and purchasing. After two years the biggest problems were more or less solved.

BAGS, AWNINGS AND TOWBARSAt the same time the company continued to increase the pace of its acquisitions. Thule had adopted a growth strategy referred to as 3-6-9. This meant the com-pany would increase its turnover from three billion kronor in 2005 to six billion in 2007, and nine billion in 2009.

This required an aggressive acquisition policy and six new companies were purchased in a relatively short space of time: Star Trailer from Bromölla (horse trailers), Omnistor from Belgium (awnings and accessories for RVs and campers), Brink in Holland (towbars) plus Valley (towbars), Sportrack (racks) and, not least of all, Case Logic (bags and storage) from the U.S.

Several of the acquisitions divided opinion both internally and externally. However, for a company grown ever more dependent on towbar-mounted bike carriers it seemed natural to secure greater expertise in towbar technology. Consequently, most people saw Brink as a logical acquisition.

Brink, a family-owned Dutch firm, had already been producing trailers and other products when, in the late 1950s, it began to successfully manufacture towbars. The company expanded into several European markets in the late 1980s, largely because it needed to broaden its market as a result of new EU legislation placing higher demand on the technical knowledge needed for manufacturing towbars.

Brink had bought up a number of small companies in Europe, which it had suc-cessfully coordinated in the 1990s and early 2000s. By the time Thule acquired Brink in 2006, it was a company with a strong reputation for quality, an annual turnover of 100 million euros and a large share of the European market.

The name of the company was immediately changed from Brink to Thule Towing Systems. Thule also started renaming the products in 2006, and by 2010 Brink had been completely phased out as a brand name. The first example of Thule and Brink combining their skills came in 2009 with the launch of a bike carrier for hybrid cars. The anchor point on the car was based on Brink’s technology while the bike carrier was based on Thule’s.

While Brink was viewed as a sound acquisition, not everybody understood the logic of buying Omnistor. But Thule’s management saw potential in awnings and accessories for RVs and campers.

ANDERS PETTERSSON: We wanted to get into the RV market. Living an active life isn’t just about running a marathon or climbing mountains. It can just as easily mean taking a family vacation in an RV or camper.

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Having started out as an importer of awnings for RVS and campers, Omnistor switched to manufacturing them in 1987. The venture was such a success that the company broadened its range to include accessories such as skylights, bike carriers, roof boxes, steps – anything an RV or camper might need.

The timing was right. Camper vacations were growing in popularity in Europe and volumes were increasing. An optimization process in the early 2000s had ensured Omnistor was a very fit company with a strong brand in its main markets.

While Omnistor was certainly considered by some to be an unusual match for Thule, the purchase of the bag manufacturer Case Logic raised the most eyebrows internally. Even at the board level many struggled to see the connection between Thule and a bag company with its roots in cassette cases.

FROM “SKI BUM” TO COMPANY HEADIn 1984 Case Logic’s founder, Jamie Temple, was a member of the U.S. Alpine ski team. But his family was starting to wonder if he would ever stop being a “ski bum” and get a real job. While traveling to a ski resort in Boulder, Colorado, his music cassettes clattered around like usual as the large pickup truck negotiated a sequence of hairpin turns. His brother, growing increasingly irritated, said: “You should get a case for those.”

Jamie took note and, with the help of his mother, constructed a zipper case that had compartments to keep his cassettes in place. When his friends saw the case, they wanted one too. News spread fast. Suddenly Jamie was making five, ten, one hundred, a thousand cases. Case Logic was born.

The company’s timing was perfect, offering the right products at the right time. When cassette tapes died out, the firm went straight over to CDs and DVDs. Ini-tial signs that the first golden age was over came in the early 2000s. An increase in file sharing and MP3 players resulted in less need for CD and DVD cases.

The company extended its range, moving from media storage to products that generally helped people organize their lives. Examples included bags for cameras, computers and other portable electronic devices. The transformation was fast and somewhat painful, but it was also more successful than expected. By the time Thule became interested, Case Logic was a strong brand in the mid-price range.

Anders Pettersson pushed hard for the acquisition, convinced it would be a strategic milestone for the company. For one thing, bags and storage tied in with Thule’s mobile transport solutions. For another, it would enable the company to broaden its appeal and access new market channels. Victorinox and Wenger, two suppliers of knives to the Swiss army, were held up as models.

Case Logic would allow Thule to see things in a whole new way. The companies were very different when it came to their timeframes for product renewal. For example, bags and cases for computers, telephones and music players required

ANDERS PETTERSSON: If a small Swiss knife company could extend its brand to clothes, clocks and bags, then Thule should be able to do something similar in its own market.

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new models all the time, whereas Thule was generally accustomed to a slower pace of change. Roof boxes and racks often had a lifespan of several years. Unlike Thule, Case Logic bought all the products it developed from subcontrac-tors in Asia. But the acquisition almost failed to get past the board of directors. Serious questions were raised as to whether bags had enough in common with Thule’s core business, or if the risk was too great, or if the company was worth the money. However, a study conducted by Boston Consulting Group showed that Case Logic could be a good buy for Thule. This, combined with the executives’ enthusiasm, was enough to convince the board.

Critics of the Case Logic purchase were, however, able to relax as early as 2007, when Thule’s turnover surpassed the six billion barrier, having risen from 3.2 billion kronor in 2005 to 6.2 billion in 2007.

THE FINANCIAL CRISIS HITSThule seemed almost invulnerable when the third private equity buyer in eight years came knocking at the door. The Swedish-owned company Nordic Capital, which had been one of the bidders for Thule back in 2004, bought the company from Candover in May 2007.

The aim was still to reach a turnover of nine billion kronor in 2009, but after de-cades of practically uninterrupted growth Thule came to a sudden halt. Business was worse than expected in the fall of 2007 and the company tumbled headlong into the financial crisis that struck with full force in 2008.

With the global economy teetering on the brink and the global automotive industry slamming on the brakes, Thule found itself in a deep crisis in the summer of 2008. Despite relatively weak sales in the spring, the company was still posting a hefty operating profit. However, this was not enough to cover the high interest costs that had arisen in connection with Nordic Capital’s acquisition of the company. The basic problem was clear for all to see: Thule had been mortgaged too heavily in order to finance the purchase and would not be able to make its interest payments.

The company was left with a selection of relatively unpleasant alternatives. One was bankruptcy. Another would involve Thule’s lenders assuming majority owner-ship of the company. A third option was for the company to get a cash injection from its owners in combination with lenders writing off part of Thule’s debt.

After an intense fall, including a series of difficult meetings and headlines in the Swedish financial press, Thule’s management, led by Anders Pettersson, mana-ged to secure a rescue package involving its majority owners and the banks. This solution, the third alternative, entailed a debt rescheduling whereby a number of banks became minority owners while Nordic Capital injected half a billion kronor into the company. The day before Christmas Eve Thule was finally in the clear, having survived its worst crisis since the failed hose clamp back in 1962.

ANDERS PETTERSSON: It happened incredibly quickly, but we had a thorough acquisition strategy as well as highly competent and motivated employees.

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THULE TAKES THE LEAD IN THE U.S.Under the leadership of President Fred Clark, Thule had managed to strengthen its grip on the U.S. market during the 2000s. At the start of the decade Thule was number two after Yakima, its main competitor. After a few years, however, Thule caught up and toward the end of the decade had taken a clear lead.

Another contributing factor was Thule’s decision to approach the car accessories dealers after 20 years of focusing on the sporting goods sector. The company had avoided taking this step ever since its failed attempt to gain a foothold back in 1980. Thule realized that a lot of its end customers were not necessarily outdoor enthusiasts. What’s more, the car accessories industry was now much more open to Thule’s products. Car accessories stores were also frequented by an important section of Thule’s target group: active families that enjoyed taking car trips and needed to bring along children’s bikes or transport extra luggage in roof boxes.

Another measure that helped boost growth in the U.S. was Thule’s decision in 2005 to optimize its sales organization. The company had 47 different groups of independent sales reps, which meant there could be three people representing Thule across different market channels in the same geographical area. Within two years the organization was trimmed back to eleven partners who each had a greater focus on Thule.

But perhaps the most significant strategic move came with investment in racks for commercial pickup trucks. In 2006 alone, craftsmen and other professionals bought 2.25 million pickups. The market was estimated to be worth 300 million dollars, compared to 180 million dollars for Thule’s other market.

This shift in strategy led to a new acquisition. UWS (United Welding Service), a maker of lockable, aluminum boxes and step bars for pickups, became part of Thule’s American operations in 2007. The acquisition turned out to be a strategic turning point. The following year the American company was divided up into two divisions: Work solutions and Cargo and Sports.

THULE SPREADS TO NEW MARKETSInternational expansion continued. In the first half of the 2000s, Thule secured a foothold in Eastern Europe, Latin America, South Africa, India, the Middle East and Israel.

Ever since Nelson Mandela had been elected president of South Africa in 1994, the country had become an interesting market, offering enormous outdoor opportunities for a small but gradually expanding section of the population. Thule was already dealing with an agency in the country when Richard Downey, a competitive windsurfer, expressed an interest in taking over distribution in 2004.

FRED CLARK: Part of Thule’s success stemmed from battling its way into the water sports market, which traditionally had been Yakima’s strongest area. The breakthrough came with the launch of the Hull-a-Port, a kayak rack that made it possible to lay kayaks on their side. As a result, two kayaks could be placed side by side on a smaller rack. It was an ingenious idea that led to the Hull-a-Port becoming Thule’s best-selling product in the U.S.

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Downey had competed at the top level with people like Robby Naish. He was well acquainted with Thule’s products and felt that the existing importer was not doing all it could for the Swedish company, mainly because it preferred to sell its own brand of low-price racks. Thule gave him the green light. As in Australia in the 1990s, the market had to be developed from scratch.

In 2005 Downey began building up Thule’s reputation in South Africa as a respected sports and outdoors brand. He attended the Cape Argus Cycle Tour in Cape Town, one of the world’s biggest cycling races. It was here that he displayed Thule’s bike carriers for the 100,000 spectators who visited the event. Soon after, an entire cycling team could be seen wearing the Thule logo. Kayaking was also really taking off in South Africa and Downey managed to seal a sponsorship deal with one of the legends of the sport, Oscar Chalupsky.

STRONG GROWTH IN EASTERN EUROPEAfter starting up in Poland in 1993, Thule continued an expansion that gained momentum during the 2000s. With Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Russia as leading markets, Thule’s turnover for car accessories in Eastern Europe increased fivefold from 2002 to 2010.

The company also went on the offensive in South America. After doing business there for seven years, Thule decided in 2003 that the market had sufficient potential to justify local production of roof boxes. In Chile alone the company was selling 7,000 roof boxes a year and local production seemed increasingly appropriate considering how far the boxes had to be shipped. The manufacturing operation was based in Brazil, which was a prioritized market. The Swedish ambassador, Margaretha Winberg, inaugurated the new roof box factory on May 13, 2004. TRAILERS: FROM BLACK SHEEP TO FAST GROWERThule’s trailer business was considered something of a black sheep in the early 2000s. The business was divided, the Danish manufacturing unit was making a loss, and overall profitability was less than impressive.

After the success of the towbar-mounted bike carriers, a strategy was devised to consolidate the manufacture of all trailer components at a new production unit in Poland. The unit was built up over a period spanning 2003-2005. It soon employ-ed 500 people who manufactured components to be assembled at manufacturing facilities located close to markets in Holland, France, Denmark and Sweden.

RICHARD DOWNEY: We skipped the car accessories retailers com-pletely and focused instead on the sports and recreation trade, mainly through small independent stores that had the right profile. The pro-ducts were fantastic so it was just a case of presenting the brand in the right places.

2000 – 2009: BUY & BUILD

RICHARD DOWNEY: Before 2004 you rarely saw bikes or kayaks transported on car roofs in South Africa. Roof racks had no status. People just thought they were something that caused rust and scratches – a poor man’s trailer. Plus, Thule was three times more expensive than everything else on the market.

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At the same time, the company invested heavily in the acquisition of a number of small trailer companies around the world. The investments quickly led to rising volumes and Thule Trailers grew by 20% annually for three years. This brought in an additional 100 million kronor per year. Total turnover increased from 400 million kronor in 2002 to 1.1 billion kronor five years later. However, the trailer business had grown a little too quickly. By the end of the decade certain parts of the operations had to be shut down or sold off as sales volumes dropped and profitability shrank.

NEW DECADE, NEW CEOWhen a decade of acquisitions and expansion ended with an economic situation that was challenging to say the least, many people wondered what the future would hold after Magnus Welander was appointed new group CEO. A likely answer could already be made out by looking at the business division he had led for four years.

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2005 THULE HULLAVATOR: The first hoist with gas-assist struts for easily lifting a kayak and placing it in the carrier on the car roof.

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2008 THULE HULL-A-PORT PRO: The Hull-a-Port kayak carrier has been Thule’s top-selling product in North America since it was launched in 2001. The groundbreaking design with its vertical loading position not only simplifies loading, but has also made it possible to easily carry two kayaks on the roof. It is also the best selling kayak carrier in North America.

In 2008 the second edition of the carrier was launched. The Hull-a-Port Pro can be fold down on the roof when not used for increased overhead clearance and improved fuel economy.

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2008 THULE EXCELLENCE: Introduced as “the world’s most exclusive roof box,” Thule Excellence featured an aerodynamic design that gave more stable driving dynamics while minimizing drag and wind noise.

With strict lines, a capacity of 18 cubic feet, Thule’s patented Power-Grip mounting solution and a two-tone cover in black and titanium metallic, Excellence represents the top of Thule’s of roof box range.

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2008 THULE EUROCLASSIC G5: The objective of the fifth generation of EuroClassic was to push the limits of design. Thule’s sights were set on the strict lines of modern car design, particularly in the premium segment.

The result was a feature-filled, easy to use bike carrier that could be mounted on the towbar with one hand simply by pushing down on a handle.

Furthermore, an innovative tilt function provided easy access to the trunk, even when bikes were mounted. And thanks to the removable frame holders, it was now much easier to fasten the bikes.

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2008 THULE K-SUMMIT: Launched as the most exclusive and user-friendly snow chain for passenger cars, Thule K-Summit radically simplified the handling of snow chains by enabling them to be attached to the wheel using a special handle and a single, one-handed motion. The chain is made of a durable metal alloy and fitted with studded plastic plates.

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2000 – 2009: BUY & BUILD

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2000 – 2009: BUY & BUILD

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20 –

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10–

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“Great products, but where can you buy

them?”

2010 – CONSUMER FOCUS

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After emerging from its crisis in 2008 Thule still faced numerous difficult challenges. The company would have to sell unprofitable units like the U.S. towbar firm Valley and the South African trailer business. Sales volumes were down. A rationalization program led to the closure of towbar factories in Sweden and Denmark, and cost cutting measures had resulted in staff reductions affecting 1,000 people, or one fourth of the company workforce.

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MAGNUS WELANDER: CEO AND PRESIDENT THULE GROUP 2010 –

Magnus is CEO of Thule since the spring of 2010 and an energetic driving force who unites long-term vision with a practical ”hands-on” approach to everyday work.

His Master of Science in Industrial Engineering was obtained at Linkoping and prior to becoming a division manager at Thule in 2006 he held senior positions at Tetra Pak in Australia and Envirotainer.

He is married to Gunilla, with whom he has two daughters, Hanna and Tilda. His main interests outside of work are sports and history, which means he lights up just as much when discussing 18th century British exploration as he does when describing how it felt to witness Cathy Freeman win the 400 m Olympic gold medal in front of a packed stadium in Sydney.

The chief recreational activity is skiing. ”Not just the actual skiing, but the whole thing – the car trip, the feeling of having been out in the fresh air all day and then a good meal in the evening.” Favorite products from Thule? ”Right now, the Thule Crossover bags. No doubt about it.”

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T HE TASK for Thule now was to make up for lost ground in a harsh financial climate and with fewer employees. Despite a slow start, 2009 turned out to be a year of economic recovery for the company. Aided by advantageous currency developments and a more efficient organization, Thule’s operating profit grew by more than 100 million kronor.

NEW CEO WITH AN EYE ON CONSUMERS Magnus Welander took over as CEO at the beginning of 2010 after four years of turning the Vehicle Accessories Europe/Asia division into Thule’s largest and most profitable business area. Welander’s agenda focused on a point he had been pushing since his arrival at the firm in 2006 – a new strategy aimed at bringing the company closer to its consumers, both online and in stores.

Even before he started working for the company Welander had owned several Thule products and he liked what the company stood for. But he had also noted that its in-store presentation left a lot to be desired.

His predecessor had also realized the need for a more offensive store strategy, but had never really gotten around to making it happen.

When Welander was interviewed for the division manager’s job in 2006, the conver-sation had mainly centered on finding solutions to Thule’s long-standing production problems. He had noted that people within the company complained over how much more Thule would be able to sell if it could just fix its supply problems.

NEW WEBSITE UNVEILED NEW “LOOK”Having solved its supply problems, Thule began working more intensively in the spring of 2009 on getting closer to consumers. The first step involved bringing in people with the skills the company lacked, which took place in 2008-2009. Newly hired marketing director Peter Kjellberg was given the task of teaming up with the Thule’s American unit to develop and launch a new global website in the fall of 2009.

MAGNUS WELANDER: I had the impression that Thule’s products were often tucked away in a corner along with fan belts and other car items. They were good products and nicely designed, but they weren’t very accessible for the consumer. .


ANDERS PETTERSON: There was a lot that needed to be done in that regard. There were stores selling $400,000 worth of Thule products per year where you could find pieces of iron on the floor and a Thule flag hanging crookedly on the wall.

MAGNUS WELANDER: I thought to myself: “If it were possible to sell that much more in Thule’s existing stores considering how the products were presented there, imagine how much could be sold in attractive stores that people knew.”

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The new website was not only aimed at giving Thule’s consumers quick and accessible information about products and retail outlets. It also marked the first time there was a uniform look for all presentation materials: store displays, sales brochures, catalogs, fact sheets, and so on.

MAJOR INVESTMENT IN NEW STORE CONCEPTWith the new website in place the next step was to enhance the experience at the retail level. It began with a new, uniform and largely self-explanatory packaging design for all Thule products across the world. Next came perhaps the most neglected point: a total makeover of the way Thule’s brand was presented in stores around the globe.

With the new retail strategy only beginning to be introduced in 2010, it remains very much a work-in-progress as this book nears its conclusion. The strategy is not only about deploying signs, displays, and presentation material in order to create a uniform and elegant store presence – the company has also resolved to take on a more active role as a partner, advisor and educator for the retail sector.

The strategy contains four main objectives: it will be easy for consumers to find a store; each store will stock a range of goods that matches its needs; the products will be presented in an attractive manner; salespeople will be able to guide consumers to the right product.

In order to ensure the strategy is a success, Thule has developed a new global store concept, including guidelines for stores regarding appearance and recommended product range, as well as training courses to help authorized resellers improve sales.

TAKING INSPIRATION FROM SEVERAL MARKETSThule has hired new staff with first-hand knowledge of the retail sector and fast moving consumer goods. The aim is to reinforce the company’s internal under-standing of the day-to-day workings of the retail sector and to test new store ideas. Thule is also planning to establish a number of concept stores in strategic locations. The first Thule store, which opened in Berlin in 2006, was given a major face-lift in the spring of 2010 to update it with the new concept.

IInspiration for the new store concept has been taken from the company’s experiences in various markets. For example, Thule’s American unit has always

PETER KJELLBERG: We created an accessible and effective tool that corresponded with what our consumers expected of a market-leading company. And via the new website we were able to guide millions of visitors to their nearest store.

MAGNUS WELANDER: We want to create a clear and distinctive Thule feeling in every store where our products can be purchased, wherever in the world that may be.

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prioritized instilling in its employees a sense of what life is like in the retail sector. Every American Thule employee, right up to the division manager, gets to work a few days as a salesperson in one of its customers’ stores. It is a simple and con-crete way of learning what the consumer is most interested in, what arguments work best and how practical the company’s different store solutions are.

Many of Thule’s newer markets around the world had already come a long way in applying this way of thinking. Countries like the Czech Republic, Poland, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Colombia and Chile have all had well-functioning Thule-oriented stores for years. Taking inspiration from its innovative pioneers the company gathered all ideas for the first time and molded them into a uniform strategy that began rolling out globally in 2010.

The rollout is just the beginning as the company seeks to achieve one of its most important objectives over the coming years: moving closer to consumers and getting to know them better, while also presenting a clearer image of what the Thule brand stands for.

ACTIVE LIFE, SIMPLIFIEDConsidering the group’s ever-growing range of products (bags, RV accessories, etc.), the management also felt that Thule’s tagline – ”First in Sports Utility Trans-portation” – no longer captured the essence of the company or its future plans.

For years the Carry Solutions division had been using the concept ”Life, simplified” to describe the function of Case Logic’s bags for the consumer. By simply adding the word “Active” the company successfully captured what the Thule Group stood for: smart products that make it easy for people to lead an active life.

THULE CROSSOVER BRINGS SUCCESS IN NEW CHANNELSThe new consumer approach saw its first tangible results with the 2010 launch of the Thule Crossover bag collection. The series of quality bags was the result of the first major collaboration with Case Logic since being acquired, and was designed with “Active life, simplified” as its guiding principle.

The bags brought practical solutions not previously available in the market (e.g. the crush-proof SafeZone area for storing fragile items like cell phones) and a design that was adapted to serve both for work and leisure. The launch of Thule Crossover bags also placed the Thule brand in an entirely new context. When Apple started stocking the newly designed laptop bags in its stores, Thule was suddenly on display in the company of some of the world’s most desirable consumer electronics products like the iPhone, iPad and iPod. Thule was no longer solely associated with sporting goods like skis, bicycles and kayaks.


PETER KJELLBERG: We know that millions of consumers around the world like our products and the possibilities they provide. But we haven’t been clear enough in how we have communicated the Thule Group’s brand in stores, at trade fairs and in the media.

MAGNUS WELANDER: But we also realized that a new tagline didn’t mean anything in itself. It only really has substance when the way the company develops and markets its products is truly permeated by its direction, in this case a clear understanding of the consumer.

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Doug Matthews, Carry Solutions division manager, had the opportunity to work with his team on two strong brands with separate identities. Thule is defined by a slightly cooler premium status while Case Logic produces attractive, practical solutions for everyday use.

CONSUMER APPROACH DRIVES CHANGEBut these efforts involve not only the Thule brand. Based on experiences in 2010, management decided that similar strategies would be developed even for priority brands in other product segments.

A clearer focus on consumer goods led the company to reevaluate whether it should continue to invest long-term in all of its existing segments. In the case of factory-mounted rails (mounted on car roofs during the car manufacturing process), the answer was no. Despite an annual turnover of 30 million euros, Thule opted to sell its rail business in the fall of 2010.

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES – THE ROAD LIES OPENNearly 70 years after Erik and Gunhild Thulin set up Metallfabriken Thule, the company is preparing for the next chapters in a story that has taken the inventive firm from a washhouse in the woods of Småland to its position as a leading global company with several strong brands.

While the road has been anything but straight, some factors have remained constant the entire way: entrepreneurship, courage, determination, an ability to cooperate – and a bit of luck at the right moment.

With ”Active Life, simplified” as its guiding principle, Thule continues the curious and entrepreneurial journey that fundamentally has always been about simplifying the lives of people with active lifestyles. Wherever they are and whatever they want to do.

DOUG MATTHEWS: We had been trying to get in with Apple for a number of years, but it was only when we introduced the new Crossover bags in Thule’s name that the door was opened.

MAGNUS WELANDER: Integrated rails were no longer a part of our core business and so we’re not the right company to be making them. That’s why we found a buyer that was able to guarantee our employees good development potential as well as continued good service and quality for the customers.

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2010 THULE DYNAMIC: A further development of the best-selling Thule Spirit. This aerodynamically designed roof box offers 18 cubic feet of space and is characterized by its low height and smoothly curved shape. The pre- installed Power-Click quick mount makes assembly very quick and easy. Thanks to the Dual-Side function, the box can be opened from both sides for easier assembly, loading and unloading.

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2010 THULE CROSSOVER: Thule’s new line of luggage and packs are full of handy features and clever storage compartments. This 56-liter bag combines the functionality of a roller bag with a detachable, 11-liter day pack. A mixture of aluminum and water-resistant material with a molded, polypropylene back panel provides a lightweight, durable and shockproof bag.

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2010 – ”BRA PRODUKTER, MEN VAR KÖPER MAN DEM?”

2011 CASELOGIC LNEO-10: Bag of neoprene and jersey for mini laptop computers featuring storage compartments for cables and accessories. Introduced in 2008 when mini laptops made their breakthrough – here the 2011 model.

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2009/2010; ACTIVE LIFE, SIMPLIFIED

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First edition

First published

in January 2011 by Thule AB

CONCEPT

© Peer Eriksson & © Sven Lindström

DESIGN

© Peer Eriksson

TEXT

© Sven Lindström

PHOTOGRAPHY

© Peer Eriksson

© Thule Archives

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Charles Hodgdon & Paul O’Mahony

PRINTING

Printed and bound in Sweden by Fält & Hässler

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be used

or reproduced in any manner whatsoever

without written permission from the publisher

except in the case of brief quotations

embodied in articles or reviews.

© 2011 Thule AB

www.thulegroup.com

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