American automobile manufacturer Ford has filed a patent regarding a repossession system that can automatically lock out vehicles in case owners do not make auto loan payments in time, and even move autonomous vehicles to a place of its choosing.
The patent application (pdf) pertains to “systems and methods to repossess a vehicle.” According to the application, the new system will involve two computers, one of which could be associated with a financing agency, such as a bank or lender, while the second computer might be an onboard computer or smartphone owned by the vehicle owner.
The patent application gives an example of a delinquency notice to explain how the repossession system would work. In such a situation, the repossession computer, located at the bank, sends the vehicle owner a notice of payment delinquency. The notice will also contain instructions to acknowledge receipt of the message….