Mechanical handbrakes will soon be confined to the history books if present trends continue a new survey has found. Just under a quarter of new cars on sale currently feature the manual leaver, down from 30% in the previous year.  

The survey by the website CarGurus in the UK, found that many manufacturers including; Alfa Romeo, DS, Honda, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lexus, Mercedes, Porsche, and Volvo have ditched manual handbrakes completely, while others retain them only for budget and sporty models.  Models which have made the move to electronic parking brakes in the past year include the BMW 1 series, BMW 3 Series, Peugeot 208, and Nissan Juke. Of all the mainstream car makers, only Dacia now offers manual hand brakes across its full range.  

Chris Knapman of CarGurus said, "It looks like the manual handbrake only has a few years left, as it continues its steady decline in the new car market, with nearly two dozen models removing it as an option over the last 12 months."