Auto tech giant CDK accuses rival Tekion of hacking 'campaign' in lawsuit
Feb 11 (Reuters) - Automotive retail software giant CDK Global has sued rival Tekion in U.S. court, accusing it of an illegal cyber hacking campaign to scrape confidential data from dealerships' computer systems in a bid to drive new business.
CDK said in its complaint, opens new tab in the San Francisco federal court on Monday that Tekion was attempting to gain market share 'through unlawful practices that damage competition and harm customers.'
The lawsuit accused Pleasanton, California-based Tekion and one of its business partners of running a 'sophisticated' scheme to breach CDK data systems that dealers use to run daily sales and service operations. CDK said Tekion was interfering with its business relationships with dealers and violating California's unfair competition law.
'This court must intervene to restore a fair and legal playing field among CDK and its competitor Tekion,' CDK's lawyers at Susman Godfrey said in the lawsuit.
Tekion and CDK did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The lawsuit again locks the two companies in a court battle, after Tekion in December accused CDK in an antitrust lawsuit of monopolizing the market for dealership management systems. CDK has denied the claims and asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit.
Austin, Texas-based CDK, which has been in business for more than 40 years, said its dealer management systems serve nearly 15,000 car and truck dealers in North America, according to its lawsuit.
Millions of transactions are processed daily, CDK said, in a data ecosystem that supports billions of dollars of commerce annually.
Tekion, according to CDK's lawsuit, has instructed dealers on how to create a virtual 'tunnel' from their data management systems to Tekion.
The lawsuit said Tekion was "converting new dealer–customers by enticing them to breach their contracts" with CDK.
CDK said it was seeking unspecified monetary damages and a court order to bar alleged further intrusions into the company's data systems.
The case is CDK Global LLC v Tekion Corp, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 3:25-cv-01394.
For CDK: Vineet Bhatia and Shawn Raymond of Susman Godfrey
For Tekion: No appearance yet
Read more:
Auto tech firm CDK reaches $630 million settlement in US dealer data case
Automotive tech company CDK sued by rival Tekion over dealer systems
Auto tech company CDK settles dealers' antitrust lawsuit for $100 mln
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