CDK says ‘small initial test group’ brought live on its Dealer Management System

(Reuters) – Software maker CDK Global said on Wednesday it had brought a “small initial test group” of dealers live on its Dealer Management System (DMS) after a cyber attack-led outage impacted auto dealerships across the United States.

Once validation is complete, it will begin phasing in other dealers, CDK said in a statement.

CDK, which provides software to car dealerships, briefly shut down all its systems on Wednesday, June 19, saying it was investigating a cyber incident.

According to its website, CDK works with more than 15,000 retail locations across North America.

The company added that it’s also working to bring back online its customer relationship management, service solutions and customer care channels.

The ongoing CDK outage has forced some U.S. auto dealers to switch back to manual paperwork.

The outage has impacted about half of Volkswagen dealers and around 60% of Audi’s dealers in the United States, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Surbhi Misra and Juveria Tabassum in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)