Most American car dealers continue to struggle to sell them fallout from a cyberattack on software provider CDK Globallasting two weeks after the occurrence.
Hackers wiped out CDK's sales and customer management software tools two weeks ago, paralyzing the auto industry in what the company called a “rescue event.”
CDK has not disclosed whether or not it has paid the group behind the ransomware attack, but said it has been successful in slowly restoring automated sales tools for its dealership customers.
Still, hacking has taken a significant chunk of June car sales: more than 5% compared to June 2023according to a JD Power estimate.
Tom Maoli, who runs several dealerships, including a Lexus dealership in New Jersey, said the cyber attack has slowed sales in what is usually a busy month for him and other car dealers.
“Right now, just with our new car sales, we're down 50 percent this month,” Maoli told CBS chief consumer research correspondent Anna Werner. It has yet to calculate the full financial impact of the disruption to CDK Global.
Even oil changes are a challenge
In fact, this hack has affected all of the roughly 15,000 car dealers that rely on CDK Global software to run their service departments, process car finance, generate sales leads and manage customer relationships. For example, potential car buyers can't close deals in a timely manner, as transactions that normally only take a few hours are held up while systems are down.
“The DMS system that has been the target of this attack is the backbone of an auto dealership,” Tyson Jominy, vice president of data and analytics at JD Power told CBS News. “It basically links all new vehicles, used vehicle sales, along with the finance office and even down to the service department. So consumers right now can have trouble getting oil changes and getting the work done warranty at a dealership”.
Systems restored on July 4th
A couple of customers who visited the Maoli dealership in New Jersey on Monday told CBS News they were able to drive off the lot with a new SUV in about six hours.
The dealership's finance and insurance manager, Tony Carlucci, processed the sale by hand and gave the couple a paper receipt.
“Because the system is down, it's taking us at least twice as long to do everything we need to do,” Carlucci told CBS News.
CDK Global said it expects all dealership systems to be back up and running by the morning of July 4. Until then, both car buyers and sellers are advised to be patient.
