CDK Global Says "Substantially All" Dealerships Back Online After Ransomware Attack 

The cyber incident that affected about 15,000 auto dealerships across North America is over. CDK Global said "substantially all" dealers in its network have seen backend management systems restored. 

"We are ahead of the anticipated schedule," Tony Macrito, senior communications director at CDK, wrote in an email response to Bloomberg.

Disruptions began on Wednesday, June 19, after hacking group BlackSuit paralyzed CDK's backend systems with ransomware, demanding millions of dollars. In return, thousands of dealers could not buy or sell vehicles for about three weeks, forcing some to switch to paper and pen to complete transactions. CDK said on Monday that all dealers are expected to be live by Wednesday, if not Thursday, at the latest. 

According to an estimate by Anderson Economic Group, the CDK disruption caused nearly a billion dollars in direct losses for car dealers.

Several dealers, including Sonic Automotive Inc., Penske Automotive Group Inc., Group 1 Automotive Inc., AutoNation Inc., Lithia Motors Inc., and Asbury Automotive Group Inc., have warned in SEC filings about a potential "material" impact from the attack. 

Bloomberg noted, "Vehicle sales were forecast to slow to an annualized rate of around 15.8 million vehicles in June, down from 16.1 million a year ago, due in part to the attack." 

We suspect the cyber incident will prompt many auto dealers to reconsider their reliance on centralized backend systems provided by CDK.

Weeks ago, X user Car Dealership Guy was featured on CNBC. He said the auto industry's biggest question after all of this chaos is: "Will the industry continue centralizing and consolidating technology? This has been the biggest trend in auto retail."