Mercedes and IBM develop “Stolen Vehicle Help”

IBM and Mercedes have developed “Urban Guard – Stolen Vehicle Help,” an app in the Mercedes me app that helps locate and recover stolen vehicles. A similar solution was developed earlier by IBM and Daimler, Mercedes’ parent company, to provide connected car services such as “ready to.”

In 2020, car thefts rose by 9.2 percent, according to the U.S. industry membership group, National Insurance Crime Bureau. This risk can be addressed through digital, connected car services, which could increase the chance of recovering lost or stolen cars for law enforcement.

As part of the Mercedes me App, the “Urban Guard – Stolen Vehicle Help” service is designed to assist customers and law enforcement in tracking down and recovering stolen vehicles. In order to provide law enforcement with as much information as possible, the “Stolen Vehicle Help” service collects vehicle and customer data to speed up the recovery process.

To achieve high-speed performance, IBM Global Business Services developed the back-end using cloud-native open-source technologies, including the Red Hat build of Quarkus.

“According to Juergen Braun, Vice President and Industry Leader Industrial, Automotive IBM DACH, consumers expect and value digital, connected services equally to vehicle performance”. “Mercedes can deepen its relationship with its customers as well as differentiate itself by providing connected car services that help owners protect their investments.”

In November 2020, customers in Europe were given access to the service “Urban Guard – Stolen Vehicle Help.”. The service is now available to eligible customers in select countries in North America and Asia Pacific, following successful recovery efforts.