Less Than A Third Of New Cars Have A Manual Handbrake

The joys of expertly executing a graceful handbrake turn in an empty gravel car park may soon be a thing of the past.

Last year, Car Gurus conducted a survey to see how many new models were still offered with the good, old fashioned kind of parking brake, and the news was grim - just 37 per cent made the grade. Now, the company has released an updated report, which concluded that the population of cars with manual handbrakes has dropped to just 30 per cent.

Yep - more than two-thirds of new cars sold in the UK are available with an electronic handbrake only. Dacia and Suzuki are the only mainstream brands that continue to offer manual handbrakes for all cars in its range, while Jaguar, Land Rover, Lexus, Mercedes and Porsche exclusively sell cars with electronic systems.

There’s a good reason why this is happening - they are, in most ways, better. They’re easier to package than manual arrangements, engaging/disengaging them involves much less effort (the latter will often happen automatically as you set off), and you’re much less likely to make a mistake with a simple on/off button.

“It’s official, the death of the handbrake is coming as manufacturers switch to electronic parking brakes in huge numbers,” said Car Gurus UK editor Chris Knapman, adding, “They have rapidly gone from being a novelty to what our research shows is now the norm.”

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