Motor vehicle external handle controlled by a strain gauge sensor

A vehicle door handle assembly comprising:

• a handle body configured to be coupled to a vehicle door, the handle body being configured to set a lock mechanism of the vehicle door to a locked state in response to a push action by a user and configured to set the lock mechanism to an unlocked state in response to a pull action by the user;
• and
• a pressure sensor arranged in the handle body to detect the push and pull actions by the user on the handle body from a rest position of the handle body,
• wherein the pressure sensor is arranged in the handle body and comprises a flexible plate that is maintained bent by a blade when the handle body is in the rest position, that is further bent by the blade in response to the handle body being submitted to the pull action, and that is less bent by the blade in response to the handle body being submitted to the push action, the pressure sensor providing a pressure signal that varies as a function of a bending amplitude of the plate and that is representative of a non-zero pressure value when the handle body is in the rest position, the pressure value decreasing when the handle body is submitted to the push action and increasing when the handle body is submitted to the pull action.