Hitachi Automotive Systems says its electric parking brake is being used on Mazda’s new three-row midsize CX-9 crossover SUV.
The supplier maintains in recent years, in the case of cable-operated mechanical parking brakes applied manually by using a lever or pressing down on a pedal, there has been an increase in vehicle contact accidents due to drivers forgetting to apply the brake or not applying it adequately on inclines or similar.
This has led to an increasing focus on electrically-operated components, which can prevent such human error by applying the brake automatically and to a growing number of vehicles being equipped with such equipment.
Hitachi Automotive Systems has been manufacturing such systems since 1939 and has fused the technology with electronics to develop electrically-operated parking, which generates a braking force which is automatically released when the vehicle starts.
The new Mazda CX-9 uses a light thrust generating mechanism independently developed by Hitachi Automotive Systems.
This electric parking brake is also being used on Mazda’s improved version of the CX-5, launched in January 2015, marking the first time the Japanese automaker has employed an electric parking brake on a crossover SUV.

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