Thule S.P.A.

In 1966 the snow chain production division of the company Trafilerie Boghi in Lecco, Italy, branched off, and the company Koenig, with its head office in Valmadrera, was born.

In 1977 Koenig moved to its present head office in Molteno.

The revolutionary 12 mm NO PROBLEM snow chain was born in 1988, with its simplified mounting system.

In 1989 this snow chain won the Silver Trophy at the International Technical Creations Awards. In 1994 Koenig, one of the leading companies in Europe, was awarded the ISO 9002 quality certificate which was followed in 1999 by the ISO 9001 certificate.

In 1998, the first 9 mm snow chain was presented with the COMFORT brand name. The following year the new MAGIC snow chain, with a self-tensioning system, was presented. The MAGIC snow chain was awarded the Panel of Judges Prize at the International Technical Creations Awards.

In 1998 the majority of Koenig s shares passed over to Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Private Equity. From the year 2000 onwards, Koenig began to open up new and important markets such as those in North America and Eastern Europe.

In 2001 the new SUPERMAGIC system, which allows the snow chain s automatic release from the vehicle, was presented and, in 2003, the same system was applied to the new TRUCK-RECORD lorry snow chain.

Once again in the year 2001, the policy of diversification into the fields of industrial and anti-theft chains was decided upon and actuated.

In March of 2004, Deutsche Morgan Grenfell yielded its parcel of majority shares in Koenig to the world leader in the field of load carriers: The Swedish company THULE.

The acquisition of Koenig by the company THULE consolidated the growth policies of the company from Lecco, creating a new worldwide player in the field of car accessories. The Koenig and THULE brand names do, in fact, belong to that category of brand names which are renowned and esteemed across the world for their quality, reliability and unique design.