For me, Thule first brings to mind roof racks to strap my bikes to the car and head for faraway places to ride. But of course, Thule makes tons of gear for cyclists beyond every different type of bicycle & sports equipment carriers, to now include adventure luggage, bike travel bags, rooftop car tents, bike trailers, kids seats for bikes, and various trailers. And now they are adding two more new categories of carriers to help get some of our favorite riding buddies to the trail, too – kids’ car seats & dog transport gear for both car & bike.
Thule Kids’ Car Seats & Dog Transport
The Thule Group today announced plans to expand into kids’ car seats & dog transport solutions both in cars and on bikes at a financial analysis & strategic planning event in Hillerstorp, Sweden where the company was founded in 1942. After historic growth over the last couple of years “boosted by pandemic induced staycations“, flexible supply chain management, and “strong in-house manufacturing”, Thule is going bigger.
Leveraging their strong position in the Active With Kids category (12% of their sales in 2021), they want to provide more options for outdoorsy customers that now have more dogs and are including their growing families more in their sport & travel.
“Both of these categories are characterized by traits that fit the Thule Group organization and the Thule consumer brand well“, says CEO Magnus Welander. “Products that enable an active life, with a technical content that focuses on safety and ease of use and where consumers are prepared to pay for premium products designed by brands with strong quality and sustainability profile.”
Kid’s car seats
Car seats for kids is a pretty logical step as Thule is already the industry leader in kids’ bike trailers after acquiring Chariot years ago and is globally one of the top 3 in bike seats for kids. And with a strong focus on safety it could make for a smooth transition from home to their strollers to cars. Expect infant & toddler car seats in Europe in autumn 2023, and North America a year later.
Dog trailers & car transport
And for your other babies – the fur baby variety – Thule plans to adapt their current bike trailers to help you carry your dogs on the bike at various price points, whether heading out on an adventure or commuting to the office now that you & your boss realize you can be happier & more productive at work with man’s best friend there, too.
Then in the car, there will be a wide range of ways to safely transport your dog – think simple strap & harness solutions or fully-secure dog cages for bigger cars & SUVs – starting in Spring 2023.
“With an ever growing interest for dogs and with dogs more and more becoming family members, we are convinced that the market of premium car and bike dog travel products will grow in coming years“, says Welander.
Thule also reiterated their ambitious long-term sustainability goals that are on track to reduce their absolute greenhouse gas emmissions by almost half from 2019-2030, run all offices & prodcution on 100% renewblw enrtgy by 2030, and reduce emissions from the upstream material supplies & downstream deliveries by 28% in teh same time frame.
Want to learn more? Then head over to Thule for the full Capital Markets Day breakdown.
