CDK cyber outage hits US auto dealers for second day in a row

By Nora Eckert, Nathan Gomes and Juveria Tabassum

 

(Reuters) - A cyber outage at retail technology and software provider CDK entered its second consecutive day on Thursday, impacting automobile dealers across the United States, the affected companies said.  

  

"The CDK outage is impacting automotive dealerships across the U.S. and Canada, including a portion of BMW Group dealers," a spokesperson for BMW North America told Reuters.

 

CDK told Reuters it experienced another cyber incident on Wednesday and proactively shut down most of its systems, but was working to reinstate its services and get dealers’ businesses back to normal soon.

 

It did not disclose the number of affected dealerships in its statement. But, according to its website, CDK works with more than 15,000 retail locations across North America.

 

The company, which provides software to car dealerships, briefly shut down all its systems on Wednesday, saying it was investigating a cyber incident.

 

A dealer who received a letter from CDK said the company informed him that it could take several more days to get the systems up and running.

 

"Dealers are very committed to protecting their customer information and are actively seeking information from CDK to determine the nature and scope of the cyber incident so they can respond appropriately," the National Automobile Dealers Association said.

 

Privately owned vehicle dealer Holman also said the outage had impacted its phone system.

 

Investment firm Brookfield Business Partners bought CDK in April 2022 for $6.41 billion in a cash deal, taking the last major publicly traded provider of software to auto dealers and manufacturers private.

 

(Reporting by Juveria Tabassum, Kannaki Deka, Nathan Gomes and Nora Eckert; Editing by Pooja Desai)