Ford is preparing for the future when self-driving cars become ubiquitous

Ford thinks that front seats in cars are obsolete. They are not wrong. As autonomous vehicles become more sophisticated, the amount of passenger interaction required by the autonomous vehicle decreases. Eventually, autonomous vehicles will require no passenger interaction beyond, e.g., selecting a destination, leaving passengers to focus on non-driving-related tasks.

This patent discloses a system that allows the front seats to be moved from a front-facing position to a rear-facing position when the vehicle is stationary or while the vehicle is operating in an autonomous mode.

US9340126