Thread regarding Ford layoffs

Maybe these id--ts should spend more time working on core engineering that would result in fewer recalls and less time on a stupid patent. Farley wants to know why he has 25% too many engineers? Because he has a bunch trying to supplement their base pay through the patent incentive system. If they were focused on the work at hand and not trying to patent d-mb ideas for extra cash, we might not need 25% more than our competitors.

This is another example of the stupidity from so-called design thinkers. Making it worst is that it's presented int he news creating alot of anger and disgust from consumers. Pathetic that of all things being developed , this is what gets leaked. Good job communications team - bunch of id--ts. IDK what's d-mber, highlighting a stupid patent of the frunk for an electric truck that we can't even build????!!!!!!
Roll out those PEPs!

@2das+1lpvRfQK I love how you consider yourself a genius, or at least more informed or smarter than the rest of us. Reality check coming...

"I love how all the geniuses on here are all assuming Ford is planning on rolling this out in the near future" We know Ford is not going to implement this feature for years, maybe never. But do you know what is rolling on many news outlets? The story. So yes, it is already damaging Ford's image.

"think this is smart to do before other auto makers may think of this idea" Maybe other automakers thought about it, but realized it was a BAD idea, with bad publicity behind. Besides, why are we spending time, money and effort in helping with the repo business instead of focusing in our loyal customers?

"think of how high priced vehicles are becoming and the prediction that defaulting on loans is only going to increase" Have history taught you nothing? Yes, prices are high right now, by the choice of carmakers, not consumers, fueled by artificial scarcity. Except Ford, all carmakers had record profits selling less vehicles. Do you truly think is going to be like that forever? Recession hits, Ford will be begging for someone to take the vehicles from the lots. Car prices are going to go down (they already are starting to go down).

The question I have for you, seeing how concern you are with defaults, is that no matter the price, how motivated will be a customer to keep a Ford vehicle that catches fire, losses the windshield, cannot be sure if it is in Park, rusts easily, bricks easily, cannot use the infotainment, has several recalls annually and spends half a year in the workshop waiting for parts? If I have to guess, "repo"-ing the vehicle will be a blessing for the Ford customer.

As an old Ford Credit collector I applaud this. If you have a $50k plus asset out there, your better get it back or doable before it becomes a $50k Chicken Coop...seen that

@ 2das+1lpvRfQK so now explain why we are paying at least four people to waste time on this.

I love how all the geniuses on here are all assuming Ford is planning on rolling this out in the near future. Just because a patent was granted doesn't mean it will go into production. I actually think this is smart to do before other auto makers may think of this idea, Also, think of how high priced vehicles are becoming and the prediction that defaulting on loans is only going to increase. Also, this patent may cover theft auto return as well

This is a good out of the box thinking idea. It may not be implemented as a near term feature, but certainly down the road when our autonomous technology is advanced/perfected and if the economy takes a downturn, this could protect Ford and others during a repossession.

Signs of a desperate company lacking self confidence.

Our vehicles suck! Of course a company that makes shoddy cr-p would have to worry about their customers not paying for them! 🤣

Make products that your customers will gladly pay for and your don't have to worry about this!

Past levels of incompetency suggests that one should exercise a degree of hesitancy before engaging with this company again. Seriously what could go wrong with their plans when unscheduled over the air updates and reboots knock out GPS and maps on a rather frequent basis. iPhone FTW.

“
The first lost functions would be minor inconveniences like "cruise control, automated window controls, automated seat controls, and some components of the infotainment system (radio, global positioning system (GPS), MP3 player, etc.)" The next level is more serious, and includes the loss of things like "the air conditioning system, a remote key fob, and an automated door lock/unlock system." Likewise, an "incessant and unpleasant sound" may be turned on "every time the owner is present in the vehicle."
If all of that is endured by the car's owner and payment still has not been received, they could get locked out of their car. The patent application states that "the repossession system computer may disable the door lock mechanism, thereby placing the vehicle in a lockout condition and preventing a person from entering a cabin of the vehicle."
“

Once again this is the stupidity from DFord. And once again this is the result when you bring in id--ts from companies like Hewlett Packard. JF is a fake and an epic failure. Wall Street has made it clear, terminate him immediately or expect consequences. Shareholders are equally angry as their stock has become junk.
Anyone left over 50 NOT in a leadership position are preparing for upcoming separations, younger workers are becoming bobble heads, nodding their heads so not to challenge the stupidity of their manager. No one cares.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/future-fords-could-repossess-themselves-and-drive-away-if-you-miss-payments

@dso I have a 2020 management lease car that was turned in in December of 2020. I know exactly where it's sitting out east because it's still active in my FordPass app. I could start it remotely if I wanted to. I can see the remaining oil life and the current odometer reading. Everything.

I have sent 3 emails to various groups within Ford letting them know about this: Customer Experience
FordPass, etc. Every email hit a dead end after it was forwarded. This is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Exactly why Ford is going out of business. Keep think you d-mb sh— like this instead of making cars and trucks people want. D-mb

We can't even get the back-up cameras to work.

Ya know that some kids are gonna hack the cars and drive a boatload of cars up and down I75 in finger formation and then park them @ the glass house.

They should give away sunroofs & ejector seat like Bond had in GOLDFINGER . It would be a win-win for them twice. They get the vehicle back and still give you "THE FINGER". MY BAD. The GOLDFINGER.

@isj yup it is scary how much data they are collecting.

They also aren’t educating the dealers on how to wipe the previous owners data from the vehicle before reselling. My son knows everywhere the previous owner went, their contact info and more, for grins and giggles he drove by the previous owners house and was able to open their garage door from the vehicle. He has since reset the vehicle to factory settings.

How will they know if there are pets/humans in the vehicle when they repossess it?
How will they know they aren’t doing property damage during repossession? - drive thru a garage door screen ( popular in southern states) / drive over a human being that sensor doesn’t detect?

How will they know it is safe to start the vehicle? Maybe humans were working with flammable materials in the garage and the auto-repo blows up the entire house?

How will they know it’s safe to abandon humans? I.e. humans drove the vehicle to an unsafe area (maybe downtown Detroit) and come out from a store/venue and the truck is gone? Or the humans left the vehicle at a trailhead in the desert and when they came back from their hike the vehicle and all their water is gone?

I doubt that they will ever be able to safely implement this technology. I am sure they will try and be sued out of existence. Be careful what you sign/agree to when purchasing a Ford vehicle. They likely will bury “hold Ford harmless” clauses.

Can it drive itself to the fire house when it detects a possible battery issue?

Do you know that every F150 has a cellular transmitter that send all vehicle information and gps location back to Ford? I’m not sure what other vehicles do this. A few years ago Ford execs approved the added cost for the transmitter. I’ve heard that the cost was $600 per. Vehicle.

You can log into the Ford technician website and see some near real time vehicle information. The new Ford Data center gets all the data. Nothing like spying on customers.

If I owned a 2021+ Ford vehicle I would find the cellular antenna and disconnect it. FordPass wouldn’t work but I wouldn’t care.

Just ditch it in the lake. deserves it

This is helpful - not.

Honestly, I really don’t know what is wrong with this company….we’re they not expecting this news to get out? This is really going to make people want to buy a Ford, isn’t it.

Already 2k people ditched these guys
100000 vehicles unsold
More to come farlee

I can see the same thought process in this patent, and the layoffs. Ruthlessly, destroy the lives of clients and employees for a few extra bucks, while the company goes to the dogs.

Who in their right mind will consider favorably this "auto repo" feature when buying a vehicle? There are MANY companies out there, with MANY different offers, COMPETING for buyers. Are we going to compete with a stick, while others use carrots? Haven't we hired from Disney for the "customer experience"? Haven't we a ton of people working on the "customer experience"? And this is what we got? Big Brother much?

So we'll blare sounds to the customer, lock the customer out of the car, disable features and make it go to a repo parking spot (hopefully there will be a "feature" to detect if a baby is still onboard, or we'll be rightly accused of kidnapping). Are we trying to copy Tesla or St-lin? I am confused.

Just one more reason to NEVER BUY ANOTHER FORD. I’m sure these things will work perfectly, and never make any mistaken movement of your vehicle.

I know I will never buy another Ford vehicle. I am sure they lost over 2000 loyal customers last year and will probably lose another 2000 across the pond later this year. The cars are just too expensive. Even President Trump said vehicles were too costly during his visit to Michigan.

Ford will be bought by the chinese and their dealers utilized for china cars and trucks. The ford family doesnt have the guts to put up with all the bs surrounding the once good company.

Go ahead and buy a honda/toyota used new it doesnt matter unless you dont care about money.

This is nothing new. The Mel F--r dealerships in the Detroit area implemented this back in the 90's with their buy here/pay here operations. They used beeper technology to disable the ignition if the customer was delinquent. Several lawsuits were filed and I do not remember how the cases were resolved. One possible problem was disabling the car while it was at high speed on a highway.

Hilarious that they think people do not work on the weekends. Oh right this was dreamt up by Ford salaried who don’t understand their customers. LOL

Also concerning as given Ford IT track record I can see a mistake causing mass inadvertent repossessions. You laugh now but Ford IT disabled everyone’s ability to unlock their car with their phone for 18 hours - a mistake (and design error) that was papered over and the root cause not addressed, so there were multiple shorter term reoccurrences. Then there have been the many billing errors (IT caused) and the misaddressing snail mail so customer A got Customer B personal info sent to them. Sure mistakes happen, but in order to fix them, leadership and employees have to own the problem and admit fault. The Ford game is to deny and scapegoat.

On the brighter side Ford can hire the out of work repo-men at their battery plant.

I'll never buy another car through Ford Credit.

I'll never buy another Ford so this kind of goes without saying.