Thule SlideBar Roof Rack awarded prestigious iF Product Design Award 2011

Thule Slide Bars

Hillerstorp, Sweden, 20 January 2011 - We are very happy to announce that the innovative Thule SlideBar roof rack has won the prestigious iF Product Design Award 2011 in the category Transportation Design. The iF Product Design Award covers all areas of product design and has, since 1953, been recognized as a mark of design excellence and innovation worldwide.

Thule SlideBar is an idea that already existed in our internal think tank and was picked up again when we began the development of another roof mounted accessory. We were looking for a solution that would make it easier for the user to load their equipment on the roof of the car, says Torbjorn Malm, head Design Engineer for the project.

Identifying the need to bring the loaded item closer to the user while loading and unloading the roof rack, we came up with a unique solution, he continues. The Thule SlideBar solves the problem in an ingenious way allowing the user to slide out the roof rack from either side of the car. Using an innovative release mechanism, the Thule SlideBar is operated with an ergonomic combination of a lever and grip panels, coupled with a fail-safe automatic snap-lock, which ensures a safe and hassle-free operation time after time. Featuring a contemporary design, based on clean and uncluttered Scandinavia lines, the Thule SlideBar is finished in modern, user-friendly materials, according to Torbjorn Malm.

The product was shown for the first time at the world's largest automotive fair, Automechanika in Frankfurt, in September 2010 and will be launched in May 2011. The famous iF label will, of course, be found on the packaging.

Receiving the iF Product Design Award means that Thule is now in the running to win the iF Gold Award, an award ceremony which honours the 50 very best competition entries among 16 different categories. This ceremony takes place in March 2011, on the opening day of CeBIT, at the Hannover Exhibition Centre in Germany and is an award for particularly outstanding achievements in design.