The surge in interest has come after Hubco demonstrated its Whispbar ™ technology in a wind tunnel at Europe’s leading motor trade show Automechanika in Frankfurt, Germany. During the event it was also awarded the only spot for an accessories company in Automechanika’s respected Green Directory, beating other environmentally innovative designs from the world’s largest motor conglomerates.

“We’re in the right place, at the right time,” says Hubco Chief Operating Officer Chris Angove.

“The comments made at the show were that our innovative design is the most dramatic change in roof racks in more than twenty years. It’s its shape, its quietness, its look, and the opportunity it brings to compete against the world’s biggest producer of roof racks, who really has a stranglehold.”

Chris Angove says the showing has led to requests for distribution partnerships in more than a dozen European countries, with the first confirmed in Poland and direct sales underway in the UK. Distribution deals are also pending in the US, where Chris and his team have visited all the big motor companies and exhibited at SEMA in Las Vegas this month (4-7 November 2008). The international deals build on an already significant market share in the Australian and New Zealand markets.

The company’s revolutionary new Whispbar™ roof racks are the culmination of more than 10 years research, firstly using nature as a design guide and then extending complex aerodynamic theories.

By eliminating noise and reducing drag the roof rack also leads to 2-3% less fuel consumption, earning it its ‘green’ moniker and catching the building wave of consumer interest in fuel efficiency.

The Whispbar™ is actually the latest design in a series of successful products that started humbly in a family-owned business in Christchurch in the nineties.

Back then, the company’s designers set themselves the challenge of improving the noise levels and drag of their initial S-Bar roof rack product in order to go above and beyond a motor company’s international testing standards. Working firstly with Industrial Research Ltd scientists and then Canterbury University Masters student Oliver Hill they delved into aerodynamic theories.

Oliver’s work also included looking at bio mimicry techniques, which emulate processes in nature. He focused on finding out how an owl flies so quietly and fast at night. Birds also inherently fly in the most efficient and economical way for their energy use.

Oliver’s research discovered that there are little tufts of feathers along the leading edge of the owl’s wing which allow it to cut through swirling airflows. Hubco’s team set about emulating this with a row of serrated teeth along their cross bar and the new Owl-Wing became a huge success, winning the rights to be installed on every new Ford Territory across Australasia.

But while the Owl-Wing worked, Hubco’s designers still felt the roof racks weren’t aesthetically pleasing enough, so they went back to the drawing board. They enlisted another student, PHD student Michael Kingon, who investigated entirely new aerodynamic theories over the three year period of his thesis, resulting in the Whispbar™. While much of the theory behind the design is secret, one new part of the design that the company will reveal is a ‘mushroom shaped’ rubber seal that both opens and seals the bar’s accessory slot and stops any cavity noise.

Chris Angove says by 2005-06 the company knew that design was at the heart of their point of difference in the market, but they needed help to continue taking the product range’s overall development forward. Hubco became one of the first companies to join the Better by Design programme, and the programme’s design audit (now called the Design 360) confirmed the company’s huge potential.

Better by Design subsequently worked with Hubco on a branding project and two product development projects to develop the design of the roof rack’s various attachment mechanisms, now called the ‘SmartFoot’™.

The projects helped develop the SmartFoot™ as another unique selling point for the Whispbar™, allowing vehicle owners to use different pairs of feet to fit different vehicles and prolong the Whispbar’s life. It also gives retailers the additional benefit of being able to carry smaller Whispbar™ stock levels – whereas previously with other brands they have had to carry different ranges for different vehicle types.

“We’ve definitely been able to develop our products faster than we could have without Better by Design being involved,” says Angove. “It’s been great and I’d absolutely recommend the programme to others. The projects in particular have been fantastic and have given us the ability to risk spending our money knowing that we had expert advice and funding support there. It’s really taken the pain away, especially in this economic climate.”

Better by Design’s Business Specialist Dean Joiner says Hubco “is a particularly good example of a company that has combined a deep understanding of end customers’ future needs with smart technology to provide a truly innovative product solution, with a great sustainability story”.

“They’ve then developed a comprehensive brand strategy to communicate this and more recently, are working hard on channels to market to rapidly grow export sales,” Joiner says.

The company’s recent success with the launch of the Whispbar™ and SmartFoot™ has seen its owners search for a new owner in order to continue its growth trajectory, and as a result Hubco was recently bought by buggy company Phil & Ted’s parent holding company.

Chris Angove says the exporting and manufacturing synergies between the two companies are significant and will give Hubco’s products a huge boost. The two companies are now working through developing a shared brand story, for example moving from a ‘load full of adventure’ into a ‘load full of family adventure’.

“It’s an exciting time, and we’re now looking at new innovations with the SmartFoot™ and Whispbar™ for other sports users,” says Angove. “We’re definitely going to be continuing to work with Better by Design and their resources.”

www.hubco.co.nz