Demand a field-level migration plan
Inventory, customers, leads, tasks, documents, accounting and repair orders have different histories and acceptance tests. “Data migration included” is not enough — require the plan and a written acceptance test.
Verified recordRecord reviewed August 19, 2026
CDK Global
Integrated dealership platform spanning core operations, retail, CRM and fixed ops.
13 product records5 categories8 integration records
What CDK Global does
CDK Global is one of the two dominant dealer management system providers in North America, serving franchise and enterprise dealer groups. Its current platform, the CDK Dealership Xperience, ties together the CDK Drive DMS as the accounting and operational system of record, CDK CRM for sales and customer management, CDK Service for the fixed-operations lane, and CDK Websites and the Roadster-derived digital retail tools for the online buying journey. Fortellis is CDK's open integration layer, letting third-party applications connect to the DMS through published APIs. Because the DMS is the financial and operational backbone of a rooftop, CDK decisions are high-stakes and long-term: the questions that matter most are data ownership, third-party integration access and fees, and the length and exit terms of the agreement.
Dealer fit
Where CDK Global sits in the stack
Market: US & Canada
Typical segment: Franchise and enterprise groups
Corporate parent: Brookfield Business Partners — confirmed August 19, 2026 against the primary source.
Research status: Core scope checked against a current primary source; configuration-level facts still require dealer verification.
Evidence basis: Company identity and the Dealership Xperience platform and its named suites confirmed on the provider's own site. The homepage names the platform and suites; it does not name the individual legacy product titles carried on this record, which remain dealer-verification items. Verified applies to company identity and published service scope—not performance, pricing, deliverables, dealer-specific configuration or client outcomes.
Record reviewed: August 19, 2026
What this record establishes about CDK Global
CDK Global is mapped to 5 workflow categories across 4 parts of the store — core operations, sales, fixed operations, marketing, with 13 named products and service lines recorded. A record this wide usually means a suite rather than a point solution, so establish early which modules are on your order form and which are simply available. CDK Global is owned by Brookfield Business Partners, which makes this a decision about a position inside a portfolio as well as a product. 8 scoped connection records are associated with this company in the directory.
This record resolves CDK Global as a company and maps its published scope to dealer workflows. It does not establish pricing, contract terms, OEM program eligibility, whether a given integration is enabled for your configuration, implementation quality or support responsiveness. Those are configuration and commercial facts that come from a scoped demo, a written proposal and a reference running your DMS and OEM.
Portfolio
CDK Global products and service lines
Packaging changes. Confirm current names, bundles and availability with the provider.
Core operations
CDK Dealership Xperience
Integrated dealership platform spanning core operations, retail, CRM and fixed ops.
Open product record →Core operationsCDK Drive
CDK Drive is CDK Global's core dealer management system — the accounting and operational system of record that runs a rooftop's sales, service, parts and back-office functions. It is the financial backbone the rest of the CDK Dealership Xperience connects to, so a Drive decision is a long-term, high-stakes one: confirm data ownership, third-party integration access through Fortellis, and the term and exit provisions before signing.
Open product record →Core operationsCDK CRM
CDK CRM is the customer-relationship and sales-workflow layer of the CDK Dealership Xperience, handling leads, follow-up and showroom process for franchise dealers, and designed to share data natively with CDK Drive. As with any CRM, the deciding factors are floor adoption, the quality of write-back to the DMS, and how reporting behaves across sales and service.
Open product record →Core operationsCDK Service
CDK Service is the fixed-operations module of the CDK Dealership Xperience, covering the service lane — appointment, check-in, repair-order workflow and customer communication — tied to CDK Drive as the system of record. Evaluate whether it updates the repair order directly rather than creating a parallel record, and how it handles declined lines and parts delays.
Open product record →Core operationsRoadster
Roadster is CDK Global's digital-retail technology, acquired in 2021 and folded into the CDK Dealership Xperience, providing the online-to-showroom buying workflow — deal building, financing and checkout — that connects a shopper's online activity to the store. Confirm how it hands off to CDK CRM and Drive and how deals are attributed.
Open product record →Core operationsCDK Websites
CDK Websites is CDK Global's dealership website and digital-storefront product within the CDK Dealership Xperience, pairing inventory-native sites with the platform's advertising and retailing tools. The questions that matter are template flexibility, who owns the advertising accounts, and how site performance is separated from bundled fees.
Open product record →Core operationsCDK eSign
CDK eSign is CDK Global's electronic-signature capability for the deal and F&I document workflow inside the CDK platform, letting customers sign paperwork digitally. Confirm which documents are supported, compliance and archival handling, and how signed documents write back to CDK Drive.
Open product record →Core operationsCDK Fortellis
CDK Fortellis is CDK Global's open integration platform and API marketplace, the layer through which third-party applications connect to CDK Drive and the wider Dealership Xperience. For a dealer it is the mechanism that determines which outside tools can reach the DMS and on what terms — establish which connections are certified, the API access model, and the fees each side charges.
Open product record →Core operationsCDK IntelliDealer Document Management
CDK IntelliDealer Document Management is listed within CDK Global's dealership technology portfolio. Confirm current packaging, availability, integrations and commercial terms directly with the provider.
Open product record →Core operationsCDK Service Video
CDK Service Video is CDK Global's technician video and digital-inspection capability for the service lane, letting technicians capture inspection media that supports recommended-service approvals. Confirm how the media attaches to the repair order and the customer-approval flow.
Open product record →Core operationsCDK Service Scheduling
CDK Service Scheduling is the online and contact-center appointment-booking component of CDK's service suite, capturing service appointments and feeding them into the fixed-operations workflow on CDK Drive. Evaluate transportation and capacity handling and how appointments reconcile with the repair-order system.
Open product record →Core operationsCDK ServiceView
CDK ServiceView is a service-department visibility and status tool within CDK's fixed-operations suite, surfacing repair-order and service-lane status. Confirm exactly which data it exposes and how it ties to CDK Drive and the scheduling tools.
Open product record →Core operationsCDK Desking
CDK Desking is the deal-structuring and pencil tool within the CDK sales workflow, handling payment, lender, rebate and manager-approval steps and connecting to CDK Drive and F&I. Confirm lender and program coverage and how a structured deal flows into contracting.
Open product record →Coverage
Categories
Dealer management systems (DMS)
Accounting, sales, parts, service and OEM-connected system-of-record platforms.
Compare 32 companies →CRM & sales enablement
Lead, showroom, follow-up, appointment and customer lifecycle workflow.
Compare 28 companies →Service lane platforms
Check-in, MPI, estimates, approvals, communication, payment and retention.
Compare 22 companies →Dealership websites & CMS
Inventory-native websites, content management, landing pages and OEM programs.
Compare 51 companies →Digital retailing
Payments, trade, credit, F&I and deal workflows across online and showroom journeys.
Compare 17 companies →Confirm write-back to the DMS
A fixed-operations tool lives or dies on whether it updates the repair order in the DMS rather than creating a parallel record. Trace one real RO end to end, including a declined line and a parts delay.
Model the full term
Include implementation, hardware, usage, media, data, integrations, annual increases and offboarding assistance in the total cost. Two providers with the same monthly price routinely differ once those are counted.
Diligence themes
Open scorecard →What to establish for this company specifically
System-of-record exposureThis company touches a system of record. That raises the stakes on data export, accounting structure and migration: a change here is a financial-close event, not a software swap. Require a field-level migration plan and a written acceptance test before signature.
Adoption on the floorSales-side tools are adoption problems more than feature problems. Ask what the provider does when usage stalls in month three, who pays for retraining, and what the reporting looks like when half the team is using it and half is not.
Account and data ownershipFor anything marketing-side, establish who owns the domain, the advertising and analytics accounts, the audiences, the creative and the performance history at the end of the relationship. Ownership is the negotiation; the monthly fee is not.
Write-back to the repair orderFixed-operations tools live or die on whether they update the repair order in the DMS rather than creating a parallel record. Trace one real RO end to end, including a declined line and a parts delay.
Commercial structureModel the full term: implementation, integration fees charged by other systems, usage or transaction charges, the annual increase, the renewal mechanic and the cost of leaving. Two providers with the same monthly price routinely differ once those are included.
ExitAgree the export format, timing, cost and deletion proof before signature. Offboarding terms are inexpensive to negotiate up front and expensive to request afterwards.
Questions dealers ask about CDK Global
What does CDK Global offer?
CDK Global is one of the two dominant dealer management system providers in North America, serving franchise and enterprise dealer groups. Its current platform, the CDK Dealership Xperience, ties together the CDK Drive DMS as the accounting and operational system of record, CDK CRM for sales and customer management, CDK Service for the fixed-operations lane, and CDK Websites and the Roadster-derived digital retail tools for the online buying journey. Fortellis is CDK's open integration layer, letting third-party applications connect to the DMS through published APIs. Because the DMS is the financial and operational backbone of a rooftop, CDK decisions are high-stakes and long-term: the questions that matter most are data ownership, third-party integration access and fees, and the length and exit terms of the agreement. The mapped record includes 13 named products or service lines across Dealer management systems (DMS), CRM & sales enablement, Service lane platforms, Dealership websites & CMS, Digital retailing. Confirm current packaging directly.
Who owns CDK Global?
CDK Global is owned by Brookfield Business Partners, confirmed August 19, 2026 against a primary source. That matters commercially: ask which sibling products are prerequisites, which integrations are internal, and whether renewal is quoted per product or across the group.
Is CDK Global a fit for every dealership?
No universal fit is asserted. The current record describes US & Canada and a typical segment of Franchise and enterprise groups; OEM, rooftop, workflow and configuration eligibility still require confirmation.
How much does CDK Global cost?
This directory does not publish an unsupported universal price. Request the exact modules, quantities, implementation, integrations, usage, increases, renewal and exit costs for the dealer's configuration.
Which systems integrate with CDK Global?
8 scoped integration records are currently associated with this company. A logo or marketplace listing does not establish fields, write-back, timing, dealer eligibility, fees or support.
How should CDK Global be demonstrated?
Use the relevant category workflows and require normal plus exception cases. Record what is native, configured, partner-delivered or planned.
What should be migrated to CDK Global?
Define objects, history, identifiers, relationships, attachments, consent, reconciliation and archive requirements before the implementation statement of work is accepted.
What should the CDK Global contract address?
Confirm named products, dependencies, service responsibilities, data access, security, term, renewal, increases, termination and transition with qualified review.
What are the alternatives to CDK Global?
Use the unranked category-peer page to discover overlapping providers, then verify exact product, market, OEM, integration, implementation and commercial fit. No universal better option is named here.
How current is the CDK Global record?
This record is at Verified status and carries a dated evidence packet naming the primary source that was checked. Verified covers company identity and published service scope — not performance, pricing, deliverables or dealer outcomes.