While it might seem like some car dealers’ technology situations are complete messes, there are some pretty robust processes happening on the backside of their websites and “contact us” forms. CDK Global is a major provider of Dealer Management System (DMS) software, and the company recently experienced significant cyberattacks that will leave its software out of service for several days.
CDK sent a note to its dealer customers that said: “If you are not aware, we experienced an additional cyber incident late in the evening on June 19. We continue to act out of caution, and to protect our customers, we have taken down most of our systems. Do not attempt to access the DMS until we can confirm the system is secure.”
The company went on to say that its phones and retail software continue to be operational but warned that it does not have a timeline for a resolution to its DMS problems, though it’s worth noting that today is the third day of the outage. Dealers may still be able to complete hand-written transactions, but the automated customer intake and response functions will be out until the company develops a fix.
CDK services more than 15,000 dealer retail locations in North America, making this downtime a significant issue for car buyers, dealers, and automakers. The problem could impact thousands of retail vehicle transactions every day until it’s fixed, and it comes during the vital summer sales season, which is typically a good opportunity for dealers to unload inventory before new model-year vehicles arrive.
[Images: James R. Martin, Artistic Operations, and refrina via Shutterstock]
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