Mazda touts widespread safety tech adoption

WITH the release of the updated CX-3, Mazda Australia says that its autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system – dubbed Smart City Brake Support (SCBC) – is now standard across its passenger car and SUV range, but the safety technology is still lacking on its MX-5 sportscar and BT-50 workhorse.

Speaking to journalists at the launch of the updated CX-3, Mazda Australia managing director Vinesh Bhindi said the widespread adoption of the technology came as a result of opportunity, not as a reaction to what rival car-makers were including in their vehicles.

“We consider it as our strategy, for our customers, it makes sense to us,” he said. “If we’re one of the first ones to do that, then fantastic we’ll lead the market, if others can secure those features in their cars, fantastic as well.

“What others do is up to them, we don’t, sort of, stand here and say they should do this or shouldn’t do this. We believe it’s the right thing to do for our customers in this market, and we’ve had the opportunity, so, put it in.”Mazda’s SCBC system utilises a windshield-mounted forward-facing laser to measure the distance of upcoming objects and is able to brake the vehicle if it detects an imminent collision.

The safety system works between speeds of four and 30km/h on the Mazda2, CX-3 and CX-9, while on the Mazda3, Mazda6 and new-generation CX-5, SCBC will work at up to 80km/h.

G-Vectoring Control – a system which can control torque based on steering and throttle inputs – is also proliferating across the Mazda range with inclusions on all models with the exception of the CX-9 seven-seater, as well as the MX-5 and BT-50 which, again, miss out on the technology.

Mazda Australia marketing manager Alistair Doak said the inclusion of the standard safety technology was “definitely the right move”.

“It is obvious that safety technology is important to new-car buyers, so we made the decision to respond to this and offer Smart City Brake Support – and other i-Activesense safety technologies – as standard equipment,” he said.

“The feedback we’ve had from buyers has been very positive, so it was definitely the right move.”