In the cargo box world, there are many different options. Whichever you choose will highly depend on a budget, specific size, or perhaps brand. A standard comparison requested by avid cargo carrier users is whether they should select a Rhino-Rack or Thule cargo box.
Here’s what I think:
Both Rhino-Rack and Thule’s cargo box solutions are excellent. To choose between them, we’d suggest the following. Rhino rack is ideal for those sticking with a budget. In contrast, Thule shines in the selection, quality, and availability department.
Undoubtedly, either is considered helpful for this type of application. In most instances, the people choosing between these settle on their favorite brands. Both share a similar build quality, price, and reputation in the market, so it can be somewhat challenging to decipher which you opt for. If you’d like more information regarding the comparison of these two, I recommend reading the Rhino-Rack vs. Thule cargo box guide below:
Rhino-Rack or Thule Cargo Boxes? The Face-off
The above provided a brief snippet of what we think of Rhino-Rack and Thule cargo boxes. However, it’s still challenging to determine which is considered the “best” after reading that. To help with this, I’ve compared some valuable metrics below that’ll help you decide which cargo box option to invest in.
Company overview
Both Rhino-Rack and Thule play a considerable role in the car rack market. According to Mordor Intelligence, Thule Group AB is the most significant, and Rhino-Rack is third. Together, along with three others, they dominate the market.
Thule themselves have been established for over 75 years and have kept popular because of their company’s culture. While creating cargo carrier solutions like boxes, they’ve maintained the same goals; to develop smart, stylish, eco-friendly, high-quality, safe, accessible products.
Unlike Thule, Rhino-Rack hasn’t been around for a substantial time. Despite this, they’ve still made a considerable impact in the market. A man called Rich Cropley founded the company in 1992, but he recently sold the business to Clarus Corporation in 2021. However, they’ve maintained the same culture of making excellent products for explorers and adventurers that adore the great outdoors.
Product Range
As you can see, each company has a long history of success, which showcases its product quality. However, I must compare their product range when choosing Rhino Rack or Thule cargo boxes as variety is everything nowadays.
Out of the two, Thule has a much broader range of product lines to select between. By having this, they’ve dominated the market by offering a cargo box that’ll suit everybody’s needs. The current ranges they provide are below:
Product Range Name | Loading Capacity (Litres) |
Thule Vector | 360L – 430 L |
Thule Motion XT | 300L – 610 L |
Thule Force XT | 300L - 500L |
Thule Ranger | 260L – 280L |
There are around two to five options in each product range that are between the suggested loading capacity sizes above. Now with Rhino-Rack, their product range is much smaller and consists of the following:
Product Range Name | Loading Capacity (Litres) |
Rhino Rack MasterFit | 440L – 530L |
Rhino Rack Zenith | 400L Only |
Rhino-Rack themselves only offers three different cargo box options, which is way below what Thule presents. Therefore, if you’re looking for a more extensive selection of products, Thule will undoubtedly be the more favorable option.
Product Quality
Unlike the above, Thule and Rhino Rack share a similar product quality. Each brand manufactures its products with high-end features that aren’t common on other branded cargo boxes. However, although they share a similar build quality, some would say Thule is the better option.
When comparing Amazon and general reviews, Thule has a lot more. But saying Thule has the better product quality could be biased when comparing it this way. As mentioned, they’re the largest company in the car rack market. Therefore, more sales, customers, and ultimately reviews.
Without question, if I am comparing features and what people want in the market, both Thule and Rhino Rack have knocked it out of the park.
Availability
Another considerable comparison I must make in this Rhino-Rack vs. Thule cargo box guide is availability. Unquestionably, both brands are globalized and sell to all corners of the globe. Because of this, you’d expect the availability to be somewhat accessible worldwide. Although they’re not the same, you’re able to purchase these cargo boxes in the following ways:
Purchasing Options for Thule | Purchasing Options for Rhino-Rack |
Online retailers | Online retailers (US) |
Many third-party retail sellers online/offline (Global) | International Distributors (Africa, America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East) |
Online marketplaces (Amazon) |
The only significant difference between the availability is that Rhino Rack doesn’t offer their cargo boxes on marketplaces like Amazon.
Pros and Cons of Rhino-Rack and Thule
To round up this battle between Rhino-Rack vs. Thule, I will detail the pros and cons below. I hope you can better visualize which might be the more favorable option for you, as you’ll see the good and bad sides of these cargo box brands.
Rhino-Rack cargo boxes
Pros | Cons |
It can be cheaper than Thule in most circumstances | It doesn’t have a broad selection, only two product ranges |
Rhino-Rack is a global brand that allows access for all customers worldwide | Smaller market share compared to Thule |
It comes with all the cargo box premium features | Only offers cargo boxes that are 400L, 440L, and 530L |
Thule cargo boxes
Pros | Cons |
Largest roof rack brand in the world | Are considered an expensive option for a cargo box |
It comes with various options ranging from 260L to 610L | |
Can be purchased from practically anywhere worldwide from themselves or a third-party seller |