Has anyone written to Fautras and asked them?
When I was trailer shopping in 2012 I looked at a new Fautras. I had done all the research on them beforehand and really liked it. However the price lost the sale for me. The same weekend I found a brand new Trailers USA 2 horse bumperbull that did not weight that much more than the fautras and it was $3-4K less in price. It was much roomier with the big V nose. I could not justify the extra cost for the few bells and whistles that the fautras came with. I would probably make the same decision today that i did then now that my trailer is a few years old. though i did love those bells and whistles…
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@NinaG looking at the TrailersUSA 2 horse bumper pulls I can’t find much in the way of specs. How much does your trailer weigh, and what’s the tongue weight? What’s the height, width and length of each stall?
One thing that I find somewhat amusing and somewhat baffling is how polarizing the Euro-style trailers seem to be in NA. I saw this when I was looking into trailers for myself. The people who love their Euro trailers adore them (myself now included in that group), to the extent that they can be quite difficult to find used. Even when one goes on the market, it doesnt last long, and often they dont seem to make it to market as they’re snatched up by someone in the seller’s network first. But those who dislike them seem to hate them to the extent that some seem to question the very horsemanship of someone who’d dare put a horse in one.
I feel like theyre the Arabians of the trailer world!:lol:
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Your comments are likely true. But original question was why a specific brand, and possibly the entire class of trailer, failed. My opinions stated above are still my opinions. Others have different opinions. But the FACT appears to be that they didn’t sell enough units to make a profit so they quit. We can endlessly discuss the market but there’s not much to be said about the sales numbers. 
G.
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From what I see, business is booming for the two NA Böckmann dealers (same class of trailer). Probably just a niche enough market for them over here that only a few dealerships can survive and thrive. Hence B’up forcing out Fautras, and Böckmann forcing our B’up.
I measured the innards of my Brenderup and there was a great deal more space for my horse in it than compared to a standard USA built trailer. I have taken it from British Columbia to Arizona and Florida without any problem.
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Bockmann didn’t come in until after Brenderup stopped exporting to the US.
the brenderup situation was weird in that the trailers were assembled in Texas, then shipped, which made them more expensive. Bockmann are shipped intact, which is why we can’t get some of the models that are too large for a cargo allocation.
in all cases, though, the high prices limited the market. A new portax with the extra head room is almost $25,000. That’s way more than most people want to spend.
For both Brenderup and EquiTrek my understanding is that the chassis has to be US approved and receive a VIN number here to pass DOT regs, but in the case of Brenderup the body was built onto the US chassis in Texas. In the case of EquiTrek the chassis has to be shipped to the UK, have the body built, and then be shipped back. Definitely adds to the cost.
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Very possible.
I’m a capitalist and if somebody can make money on these then God Bless 'Em.
G.
Well, since I am the only Fautras dealer in the USA at the moment (hold that thought…) There are various reasons but none of which have anything to do with lack of design, quality or service from Fautras. Many things happen to small business’, many of which are due to personal reasons, so public forums are not a good place for that sort of discussion! Fautras USA is planning on being at Equitana next year and we’re also in the process of putting a wider dealer network in place again because we currently ship from the mid-atlantic region.
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None of the cities you just listed are actually countries. Perhaps you mean France, the Czech Republic, Italy, Holland, Belgium, Germany and (once again) Italy?
Yes, but there are plenty of comforts in other trailers that are not available in those wee little trailers as well. That’s why a good chunk of people in Europe who compete seriously are not using that type of trailer, they have big rigs that make my heart go pitter patter. So it’s not just a US v. EU discussion, it’s a subset of both populations, and even then, it’s still a smaller subset of people who aren’t competing seriously* and own a trailer. Because there’s a lot of people on both sides of the ponds that don’t own any kind of trailer.
'* before the internet gets its panties in a wad, by serious, I am referring to people who compete regularly and across multiple states/countries with more than one horse. I recognize that there are serious competitors who have all sorts of trailers. But at some point if you move up in competition and number of horses/equipment you have to get from point a to point b, you will upgrade the trailer as well.
