Europe’s biggest trailer maker is on the road to more success after launching a new car transporter.
It was unveiled by Ifor Williams Trailers at the Autosport Show at the NEC in Birmingham and, according to company, the response was overwhelmingly positive.
The covered car transporter is aimed at the high end of the market and is ideal for racing cars, classic cars and rally cars.
It’s based on the concept of the company’s innovative business inabox trailer which can be tailored made to suit the requirements of a variety of businesses enabling them to set up shop in different locations.
The car transporter can also be fitted with a work bench to carry out running repairs on the cars they carry.
Among those who’ve been “blown away” by the new trailer is Sigurd Duenger, from the company’s main Norwegian distributor based in Rudshogda, 150 kilometres north of Oslo.
They have a network of 12 distributors across Norway and ordered six of the car transporters immediately when they came on a visit to Ifor Williams Trailers when they toured the company’s three factories in Cynwyd, Corwen and Deeside.
According to Sigurd, such was the demand that three of them were sold even before they left Wales.
The Norwegian distributorship was established by Sigurd’s father, Nils Duenger, 21 years ago.
He was the first Norwegian farmer to import Highland cattle and spotted the firm’s livestock trailers at the Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh – and a great business opportunity.
Sigurd said: “In the last five years we have seen a big growth in the sale of trailers and the brand is more known in Norway.
“We have 12 distributors in our network – from Trondheim to Stavanger, Kristiansand and Oslo. We cover the whole of Norway.
“We have a focus on a lot of horse boxes during the last years but we’ve also seen a very good growth in the livestock market and the commercial trailers.
“The reason the trailers are they so popular in Norway is that they are strong. It’s the quality and people think more of quality and obviously Ifor Williams Trailers is renowned for quality.
“We’re here to look at the new car transporter and it is an excellent trailer.
“We’ve wanted a covered car transporter trailer like this for quite a while. We have a very big competitor in Norway who have one. A lot of people ask for it because they want Ifor Williams Trailers because they know of their quality.
“There’s a very big market for car transporters in Norway. There are a lot of shows and a lot of people have classic cars to go to shows.
“There’s also rallying and also a sport called drifting in Norway, which when cars drift around a track.
“We have high hopes for the car transporter and hopefully these six will be the first of many.”
Iorwerth Roberts, the head of sales in North Wales, said the response at the Autosport Show was “fantastic”.
He said: “Anybody and everybody who has anything to do with the autosport industry was there.
“We had a great reaction and everybody knew about the Ifor Williams products because we’ve been involved with car transporters before.
“They knew about our reliability and to see now that we have a covered one to offer just drew people in.
“The fact that it has an insulated roof was a great selling point and people thought that it looked the part and yes, it was great.
“What car enthusiasts carry in these transporters could be worth mega-money – it could be a Ferrari, a classic car or a rally car – so it needs to be dry.
“It can also be used as a workshop or a garage. In some cases, people don’t have a place to keep these cars, so because this is insulated now, it’s ideal.
“We can also supply an awning with the car transporter so you can also have accommodation if you’re staying somewhere overnight.”
