We are pleased to present our new shops for the neighboring German countries of Belgium and the Netherlands to you: The two shops have now been available for a few weeks and offer our customers from the two countries an individual service. The shops are aimed exclusively at customers in the respective countries. Thanks to the language adaptations of the shops, we guarantee customers from Belgium and the Netherlands an individual shopping experience for our products designed and made in Germany.
Like all our shops, the MVG shops for Belgium and the Netherlands also offer towbars and electrical kits for a wide variety of vehicles from Alfa Romeo to VW in the usual MVG quality. Our range includes towbars for passenger cars, off-road and commercial vehicles. In addition, we also offer rear bike carriers in the shops, as well as accessories and spare parts for trailer hitches, electrical kits and rear bike carriers.
Personal customer service and individual approach in the MVG shops in Belgium and the Netherlands
„We are pleased to be able to offer good and above all personal customer service for these countries with the new shops and to be able to establish even more direct contact with our customers,“ says Michael Pütz, Managing Director of MVG. We offer the shop for our customers in Belgium in Dutch and German in order to be able to address the German-speaking community in Belgium directly. For our Dutch customers, the MVG shop is available in Dutch and English.
It makes sure that even in the event of the trailer coming loose from the coupling towbar it will still decelerate. This is what we call the safety or breakaway cable. Anyone who drives a lot with a trailer is sure to be familiar with installing it – and probably also had many discussions about it. When travelling to our neighbouring countries, the Netherlands and Switzerland, if the breakaway cable is not correctly installed or you have no safety cable, this could lead to heavy fines. For this reason, we’ve put together the provisions given by the ADAC (German Automobile Association) regarding the correct installation and use of the cable.
Breakaway cable safety mechanisms when driving in Germany
In Germany trailers in the medium-weight class, i.e. with a permissible maximum weight of more than 750 kg and up to 3,500 kg, are generally equipped with inertia (overrun) brakes. This means that in the braking procedure the trailer overruns the towing vehicle and the resulting power is transmitted by lever transmission to the trailer brakes. In the event that the trailer becomes detached from the towbar, a safety cable should trigger the brakes and bring the trailer to a halt.
The use of a breakaway or safety cable is mandatory in Germany. Where exactly the cable should be installed is not specified. However, one thing is certain, the cable may not be looped over the towbar. As far as technically possible, the safety cable has to be fixed through an opening, drill hole or eyelet on the towbar, not on the ball head.
How to use a safety cable correctly in the Netherlands
In the Netherlands safety devices are foreseen for both braked and unbraked trailers. Trailers up to 1500 kg therefore require a safety feature and/or breakaway facility. With trailers without their own brakes a secondary coupling in the form of a cable or chain is compulsory. This also applies for unbraked trailers up to 750 kg. With larger trailers an ultimate (at break) braking provision must be in place, i.e. a steel cable between the vehicle and the braking system of the trailer. This is only available for vehicles (trailers) with brakes.
In any case, it is very important that in the Netherlands the specified safety cables must, in addition, be attached to the towbar for both unbraked and braked trailers.
This is done with special eyelets or clamps. Simply winding the cable round the knee-joint bar is not sufficient in the Netherlands.
How to use a safety cable correctly in Switzerland
In Switzerland with trailers up to a permissible total weight of 1,500 kg without a service brake system, an additional safety cable, e.g. a breakaway cable is required. The Federal Office for Roads has approved additional eyelets or special fixing holes on the towbar as suitable for mounting.
What requires special attention with a foreign/German trailer combination in the Netherlands and Switzerland?
In accordance with the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, the brake systems of trailers must be equipped in such a way that the trailer, even in the case of a break in the coupling device when in motion, can come to a halt. This does not apply for single-axle trailers or double-axle trailers with a wheelbase of less than one metre and the trailer does not exceed the permissible total weight of 1,500 kg. Unbraked trailers up to a permissible total weight of 1,500 kg must be connected and secured to the towing vehicle via a safety cable, i.e. a breakaway cable. General information: Since the minimum requirements specified by the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic may not be exceeded, either in the Netherlands or in Switzerland, the national provisions shall in any case also apply for trailer combinations registered in Germany, insofar as these are active road users in the Netherlands or Switzerland.
Please note: Our towbars have either eyelets or a drill hole for fixing the breakaway cable. Read more about how to use the cable correctly in our report on this topic.
When driving with a trailer the breakaway cable already plays a major role when attaching the trailer. The breakaway cable is responsible for an emergency slowing-down process in case the trailer backs out the towbar. A new law concerning the transportation and use of trailers has been released in the Netherlands (Art. 5. 18. 34-2) claiming that the tear-off must be a fixed part of the vehicle itself. Therefore, an option must be provided for the driver to fix the breakaway cable to the car.
How to use the breakaway cable correctly
Simply placing the breakaway cable around the towbar is not valid anymore. There are two alternatives:
You can rather fixate the breakaway cable using a special lug which is part of our towbars in series. The lug can be found in the vicinity of the housing. Further, a special retainer can be used which makes it possible to fixate the cable to the towbar as well and also accomplishes the same purpose as does the lug.
For some 40 years now MVG has been successfully developing, constructing and manufacturing towbars and electrical kits in original equipment quality for passenger cars, commercial and off-road vehicles.
Many years of experience, reliability, flexibility and excellent quality – these are the features that qualify MVG as a dependable system partner for the automotive industry and the car dealing business.
In the development and construction of our towbar systems we, at MVG, use state-of-the-art technology such as CAD and FEM (Finite Element Method). In this process we also take into account the individual wishes of the customer, such as attractive yet unobtrusive designs on the vehicle, as well as easy and quick fitting thanks to an excellent accuracy of fit and simple installation of the towbar on the vehicle.
MVG towbars are tested for maximum tow load capacities and D-values in accordance with European standards. Approval by the German (or other) technical agencies is not required.
Before everything goes into serial production extensive safety tests are carried out in our test centre. The fatigue strength of the towbars is tested on the basis of the European Guidelines 94/20/EG; ECE R55 or the test procedure Carlos TC – “Car Loading Standard Trailer Coupling”.
All MVG towbars can also be used for rear cycle carriers.
MVG electrical kits are based on the high technical and statutory requirements demanded of the automotive electronic systems. Taking into consideration the latest technology, such as check-control, CAN bus, LED and PDC, our electrical kits are indeed complete, vehicle-specific solutions with that extra plus of easy fitting and reduced installation times.
State-of-the-art manufacturing technology in our plants, which is monitored by process-related quality controls, guarantees an outstanding product quality.
MVG stands for quality “Designed and made in Germany” – tried and tested and certified in accordance with ISO 9001* and ISO/TS 16949 as the first* manufacturer of towbars and electrical fittings in Germany.
We are pleased to present our new shops for the neighboring German countries of Belgium and the Netherlands to you: The two shops have now been available for a few weeks and offer our customers from the two countries an individual service. The shops are aimed exclusively at customers in the respective countries. Thanks to the language adaptations of the shops, we guarantee customers from Belgium and the Netherlands an individual shopping experience for our products designed and made in Germany.
