Progress is being made in restoring popular software used at 15,000 automobile dealerships nationwide after a cyberattack.
The President of the Greater Cleveland Automobile Dealers’ Association, Lou Vitantonio, confirms CDK Global has restored its dealer management system to a small test group of dealers. But, as of Thursday afternoon, he wasn’t aware of any local dealerships being turned on.
“But they're anxiously anticipating being up and running quickly,” Vitantonio said.
Restoration is expected to continue in phases.
The software is essentially the brains behind much of the paperwork employees use to facilitate sales, dealership trades, financing, insurance and repairs. It also helps with inventory and communications with customers.
Since last week, local dealerships have been advised to draw up contracts and other needed forms by hand, which is a tedious process that can be slow.
Vitantonio said dealerships have managed the situation well and continue to serve its customers.
“I've been in the industry a good amount of time. I remember when we were handwriting buyer's orders and were submitting things via fax… it's viable if we ever needed it. But again, there are a lot of people in the industry that haven't done that. So we're reeducating,” Vitantonio said. “You can walk out of the dealership with a written buyer's order that has all the dollar amounts on it. A lot of dealerships are releasing those vehicles to the customer. With the caveat- you may have to come back and sign other documentation.”
Since last week, News 5 Viewers have told us about service delays and the inability to complete the sale of a new car at some dealerships.
News 5 contacted CDK Global for an update on restoration efforts. As of Thursday evening, the company hasn’t responded. It’s unclear if all the dealerships that utilize its software will be back online by June 30, as previously stated.
