Unable to keep fighting cheap Chinese imports, Treg Trailers will close permanently after 75 years

Unable to keep battling cheap Chinese imports, a well-known SA company will close this week after 75 years of trading.

Iconic local manufacturing business Treg Trailers will close its doors for the last time on Thursday, bringing to an end 75 years of trade.

Hit by low-cost competition from China and the demise of its local supply chain, Treg’s closure follows years of losses, according to director Ian Tregoning, whose father Gordon established the business in 1947.

“When we reached our peak it was a very profitable business – we probably had 30 or 32 employees at our peak,” he said.

“My father used to say people will soon forget the price, but they’ll never forget the quality, and we’ve had a sensational reputation.

“But in recent times there’s all the Chinese imports. You can buy a trailer now, which is absolute rubbish compared to what we build. But it’s like a toaster – now you expect it to last two or three years and then you chuck it away and you buy another one.”

A Treg trailer pictured with an employee in 2011.

About 12 staff are affected by the closure, which comes 75 years after the late Gordon Tregoning, who died in 2013, started making trailers in a tomato shed in Underdale.

A trained fitter and turner, he later developed the original Treg Poly Block Coupling system to make it easier to tow on Australia’s tough roads.

“We’re well-known for our poly block coupling, which my father invented 50 years ago,” Mr Tregoning said.

“A lot of the mining companies use them – they’re like a universal joint, they’re much better than a ball coupling and we’ve been selling thousands of those.

“But the Chinese have copied them, believe it or not, and they brand them Treg. I’ve talked to lawyers, and they’ve said you can take them on but you’ll spend millions of dollars and get nowhere.

“They’re copies of Treg that are branded Treg and it’s really sullied our name.”

While best-known for its trailers and coupling system, engineering was also a big part of the Treg business, which worked on major projects like the Adelaide Velodrome, and serviced customers including Mitsubishi, Holden and West End Brewery, which have all ceased local operations.

Mr Tregoning said the demise of local industry had taken its toll in recent years.

“I kept the family business trading out of respect for my dad,” he said.

“In the past few years it’s been losing money and my accountant said to me, ‘why are you still running?’ I told him I’ve got people that started at Treg’s as an apprentice and they’re still there. I don’t want to be responsible for putting them out on the street.”

Mr Tregoning said the Treg Poly Block Coupling system would continue to be sold online.