A cyber outage at a major retail provider of auto dealership software entered its third consecutive day on Friday, delaying auto sales across North America, the affected companies said. Software provider CDK said there was no end in sight.
“The CDK discontinuation is affecting automobile dealers in the United States and Canada, including a portion of BMW Group dealerships,” a BMW North America spokesperson told Reuters.
CDK, which provides different types of software to auto dealers, said it experienced another cyber incident on Wednesday and proactively shut down most of its systems, but was working to restore its services and get dealers’ business back to normal soon. normal. Thursday, CDK sent a letter to clients indicating that “they did not have an estimated time frame for resolution.”
It did not reveal the number of affected dealerships in its statement. But according to its website, CDK works with more than 15,000 retail establishments across North America. Representatives from major automotive companies, including Ford, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz. confirmed to Bloomberg who were working with dealerships affected by the outage.
“Dealers are highly committed to protecting their customers’ information and actively seek information from CDK to determine the nature and scope of the cyber incident so they can respond appropriately,” the National Automobile Dealers Association said. Private vehicle dealer Holman also said the outage had affected its telephone system.
Investment firm Brookfield Business Partners bought CDK in April 2022 for $6.41 billion in an all-cash deal, bringing the last major publicly traded software provider to private auto dealers and manufacturers.