Ford recently submitted a patent to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) called “system and method for repossessing vehicles”, the patent describes how to repossess vehicles from delinquent borrowers through smart car features.
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According to the patent, a financial institution or repossessor could drive a vehicle to a location such as a “repossessor” or “lender” via the Internet, without the involvement of the owner.
The patented system can also gradually disable smart car features. Lenders can use the system to control some of the vehicle’s functions, such as turning off adaptive cruise control, seat adjustments, infotainment features and more. The system will next issue its own warning sound to remind the owner to repay the loan, but the vehicle will still be able to drive normally. If the owner remains behind on payments, the lender can further turn off the air conditioning and even deactivate the engine, brakes, gas pedal, steering wheel, etc. At this point, the doors will automatically lock and the vehicle will be automatically driven to the repossessor, lender, etc. If the lender thinks the car is worth too little, the patented system can also send the vehicle directly to the junkyard for scrap disposal.
Of the patent, Ford spokesman Wes Sherwood said, “We submit patents for new inventions as a normal business process and does not necessarily mean we have new business or product plans.” He said it is difficult to apply this patent to production vehicles at this time because it involves multiple agencies and systems.
The background of Ford’s application for this patent is the continued rise in the delinquency rate of auto loans in the United States. The latest data from Cox Automotive, the largest online and offline trading platform for cars in the U.S., shows that in January 2023, U.S. auto loans that were more than 60 days past due increased by 2% from last December and by 20.4% from a year earlier, reaching the highest level in 17 years.
