Our brands are at the heart of safe and innovative transport solutions for individuals, families and businesses.

We make products that enable individuals, families and businesses to confidently and safely navigate the world around them.

For this reason, we are committed to delivering the highest quality and safety standards across our entire product range. This includes car child seats (BeSafe), helmets (Etto), bike seats and trailers (Hamax), car roofboxes (Packline), electric vehicles (Paxster) and utility vehicle equipment (Loyds).

We also have a retail presence in Scandinavia through Barnas Hus.

 
Our heritage – safety and quality, off and on the road

From our humble beginning in 1919 as a saddlery business, HTS Hans Torgersen and Sønn AS has developed brand across several industries. Today, we are recognized worldwide for our award winning products in child car seats, bike seats and trailers, helmets, car roofboxes, electric vehicles, utility vehicle equipment and more.

This evolution has spanned nearly 100 years and four generations of our family. The strength of our brands is a testament to this depth of experience, built on solid foundations of tradition, innovation and quality.

When Hans Kristian Torgersen started HTS in the Norwegian capital of Kristiania (now Oslo), the focus of the business was horse equipment. With the advent of the car and fewer horses on the road, Hans and his son Arne moved with the times and switched from supplying saddles to car seats, opening a new and coming industry.

Staying true to his origins, yet innovating to meet current demands, Arne started the company’s first industrial business in 1959 with the manufacture of car seat covers. Today, HTS also still makes seat covers for various transportations.

Through the 1970s, development continued rapidly with the production of truck trailers cabinets and PVC storage halls, today through the still family-related Hallmaker Group. The trend continued into the 1980s, with HTS converting and adapting cars, manufacturing car seats, roof boxes and bicycle helmets.

In 1989, only 25 years after developing our first child’s car seat, HTS brand, BeSafe launched one the world’s first rear-facing car seat, and from that point leading the way as pioneers in rear facing child safety.

The 1990s saw HTS acquire the trademarks Packline (roofboxes) and Etto (helmets) and car interior company, Loyds. The Group added further synergies in the 2000s with Voksi (baby sleeping bags), Hamax (children bicycle seats and sledges), Paxster (electric postal delivery vehicles) and Barnas Hus (retail and online nursery business).
Driving much of this development and acquisitions was owner and former CEO and third generation, Hans Kristian Torgersen. With a passion for innovation and unconventional thinking, Hans Kristian finished his education after the ninth grade and went on to study marketing later in life, always believing that there are no limits to achievement. As the driving force behind the company for 33 years he oversaw the development and production of many innovative products.

“The birth of my first grandchild sparked again my most important source of inspiration – to protect my two children and four grandchildren in the best way possible with BeSafe car seats”, says Hans Kristian.

And this inspiration has continued to be a source of innovation, with constant adaptations to car seat designs to meet safety standards and changes in car travel over the years.

In October 2017 the fourth generation of the Torgersen family took over leadership of the company. Current CEO, Kristian Torgersen comes from a background of semi-professional MTB-cyclist for Norwegian Team Etto Høydahl (later Team United Bakeries). Kristian has two children, and lives in Krøderen with his family. He uses and tests HTS products every day and loves to stay active through running, skiing and cycling.

Hans Kristian Torgersen built a legacy of success that each generation of the family has proudly built upon. With our roots in traditional craftsmanship, the HTS Group today continues to emphasize high standards and functionality in every product we make. And while the company and portfolio has expanded well beyond our early origins, we still hold true to our solid, Norwegian heritage and uncompromising commitment to quality, safety and innovation.