CDK

Cdk Global, Inc.

A maker of software for car dealerships, CDK Global supplies the Dealer Management System (DMS) that runs day-to-day operations—sales, parts, service, financing, and accounting—and connects dealers to automakers for ordering parts and submitting warranty claims. The company was spun off in 2014 from payroll giant ADP, whose dealership division traced its roots back decades. Its name is a puzzle of its own parts: "C" for Cobalt digital marketing, "D" for Dealer Services, and "K" for Kerridge, a British dealer-software firm bought in 2005.