CDK Global continues to grapple with the aftermath of a major cyber attackwith some of the software services the company provides to thousands of auto dealers in the US still not fully functional.
Fallout of the ransomware attack has entered a third week for the 15,000 car dealers who rely on CDK's sales, inventory management and customer relationship systems to run their businesses. CDK said Saturday that the company is making progress in restoring its systems for all its customers.
“We are continuing our phased approach to the recovery process. We have successfully brought two small dealer groups and one large publicly traded dealer group live on the Dealer Management System,” a CDK spokesperson said in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch. “We are also actively working to bring additional applications live, including our customer relationship management and service solutions, and our customer service channels.”
In an automated recording on a helpline for dealer customers, the company also said it has resumed customer service calls.
“We are pleased to announce that our customer service support channels are now live. Starting today, you can call us for assistance,” the company said in the recording. CDK noted that it will offer extended hours for customer service calls starting Monday.
CDK said in a statement and recorded message last week told dealers that it did not expect service to be restored to all customers before June 30.
Car dealers say the CDK outage has hurt their business. The attack is expected to reduce dealer turnover in June by about 100,000 vehicles, or more than 7%, compared to the same period in 2023, according to a forecast from J.D. Power.
The disruption comes at an inopportune time for car buyers and sellers, slowing sales during the traditionally busy summer season.
“June is one of the biggest sales months for the auto industry and we expected sales to be quite strong,” Tyson Jominy, vice president of data & analytics at J.D. Power, told CBS MoneyWatch.
However, many transactions that could not be completed in June due to the attack were able to be completed in July.
