As the continuous disruption of systems In the second week of trading by software provider CDK Global, car dealers are racking up millions of dollars in losses, according to a new estimate.
US auto industry workers told CNN that the software blackoutwhich according to the company was caused due to a cyber attackhas made it difficult for distributors to track customer interactions, orders and sales, hurting their ability to make a living.
"It's going to affect payroll here," said Bernard Irvin, a salesman at a Ford dealership in Greenville, South Carolina. "Why wouldn't I get my normal salary? I really don't understand what this is all about."
Workers' concerns illustrate how a cyberattack, even one against something as overlooked as scheduling and record-keeping software, can paralyze an entire industry.
According to an estimate by Anderson Economic Group, a CDK system collapse could result in approximately $944 million in direct losses due to business disruptions for affected auto dealers if the outage lasts three full weeks.
Fragmented progress
He The power outage began last Wednesday after two cyber incidents brought down systems at the company, which provides software to nearly 15,000 auto dealerships in North America, according to CDK.
In a statement on Friday, the company said it was moving to bring some dealerships back online. Previously, the company said it did not expect the issue to be fully resolved. Resolved until July.
"We have successfully launched two small distributor groups and one large publicly traded distributor group on the Distributor Management System (DMS). We are also actively working to operationalize additional applications, including our Distributor Management solutions. Relations (CRM) and Service, and our Customer Service channels," according to a CDK spokesperson. "We understand and share the urgency for our customers to return to normal work, and we will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available."
Dozens of automotive retail workers expressed concern on how the blackout affected their livelihoods.
"I work at a major auto body shop and this has affected us greatly," one worker wrote to CNN about the outage. "I don't know how they're going to pay us."
"It will affect the payroll"
At 71 years old, Norm Phillips has worked as an auto parts delivery driver at a Mercedes-Benz and Honda dealership in New Jersey for more than 21 years.
Since the CDK malfunction, it had not been able to work at allThe dealers had not been able to see which parts were to be delivered.
"When I asked my boss if they were going to continue paying us, he didn't answer me," Phillips told CNN on Thursday. "I've been home for a week looking for another job."
Even if CDK resolves the issue, Phillips said he feared the possibility of another cyberattack.
"I feel like everything is scripted. If hackers can get into a system and take my job away, I feel like it's probably not the right job right now," she said. "There's no security."
Phillips wasn't the only one to express his frustration.
"15,000 dealers is a huge amount of stuff to have control over when you do the math," Irvin said of CDK. "It's ridiculous."
Irvin said he realized something was wrong with the CDK software he relied on to help prospective customers when a couple interested in purchasing a new Ford Bronco Sport arrived at his dealership early last week.
"I couldn't do anything I normally do," Irvin said. "I was completely paralyzed and could only do very basic things."
Without CDK's record-keeping system, Irvin also said he believed his dealership would not be able to accurately track commission payments.
"You have to make sales," Irvin said. "Otherwise you go home and don't eat."
Even without access to the software, business has continued, albeit slowly.
In the end, Irvin said it took him a week to get the couple who bought his Ford Bronco Sport the bill of sale, which proves ownership of their new car. All documents had to be handwritten.
And after more than a week at home, Phillips' boss texted him to come back to work on Friday. They planned to track some parts deliveries and verify pickups manually.
"I'm surprised they didn't discover the method sooner," Phillips wrote in an email. "It will be a new adventure."
The CNN Cableโข & ยฉ 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
