It's only February, but the calendar is already filling up for CDK Heavy Truck.
“You can take this to the bank, we will be introducing something new every quarter this year,” René Daudelin, head of CDK Heavy Truck told TPS during a an exclusive company update discussion after the recent ATD Show.
Admittedly, Daudelin says CDK is always busy, but in 2025, the company's excitement and eagerness to release new features is overwhelming. Daudelin says CDK has been incredibly busy developing tools to support and bolster its commercial vehicle dealer management systems and this will be the year many of those features hit the market.
Daudelin says CDK's new solutions will support many vital areas of dealer operations, with improvements coming to accounting workflows, bridging gaps in service operations, creating improved, integrated experiences with partners and the introduction hybrid intelligence using artificial intelligence.
With each improvement, Daudelin says CDK's goal is to strengthen the functionality and insights available through its platform so dealers can more intelligently and efficiently run their dealerships.
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“We want dealers to be able to access what is important to them,” he says. “To ensure [dealers] are getting the most out of what they have.”
He says the good thing is CDK's platform already provides a lot.
“When I have conversations with dealers, I always say 'The good news is our software is among the most customizable you're ever going to work with. But the bad news is also its among the most customizable you're ever going to work with,'” Daudelin says.
Which is why the company believes AIVA, its new AI virtual assistant, could be such a vital step forward.
By leveraging AI to mine and analyze data within a dealer's operation, Daudelin says hybrid intelligence will offer “real-time data” to help dealers make decisions faster, answering tough questions dealers have about their operations in an immediate, concise and almost conversational manner. Dealers will no longer be required to run time-consuming reports to acquire vital information.
The company adds AIVA is “aimed at improving dealer performance and the overall dealership experience. AIVA responsibly leverages AI components for dealers to provide quick, personalized, conversational text and email responses to consumers in real-time.”
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The company also remains committed to ensuring users get the most out of the software. Daudelin says CDK will debut a customer success team in the first quarter that will work directly with existing customers and prospect to offer guidance and expertise on how to best use CDK's platform. Daudelin says the idea comes from CDK's automotive side, where it has been successful, and should be a welcome addition to the truck business.
Other irons are in the fire too, Daudelin says, as CDK remains committed to providing dealers functionality and visibility into their businesses to maximize revenue while monitoring costs and profitability.
“It's one thing to know what you can do to bring revenue, but once you have a dollar, you also have to be able to track it properly throughout your enterprise,” says Daudelin.
