Students at University of Buckingham invited to enter competition focused on creating innovative solutions for the automotive retail industry

CDK Global, Inc (Nasdaq, CDK), a provider in automotive dealership software used in over 30,000 retail locations across the world, has launched the CDK Dealer Tech – University Automotive Technology Competition with six leading UK universities, including The University of Buckingham.

The competition, a brand-new concept in the automotive retail industry, has been created by CDK Global to support future talent, encouraging students to build innovative ideas to help advance automotive retail, whilst also providing first-hand experience of modern industry challenges. The University of Buckingham will be joining five other participating universities; Bath, Exeter, Warwick, Surrey and Southampton.

Students from Buckingham are being invited to the competition’s official “kick-off session” on Wednesday 14^th October hosted by Chris Munday, CDK Global.  The call will provide more details on the competition, the automotive retail industry and current trends, as well as give teams a chance to field questions and probe for hints and tips.

What potential participants need to know:

• CDK is seeking innovators, problem solvers and team players – this is an opportunity for students to create a concept that could make a real difference to the automotive retail industry and that could help car dealers transition their business amidst today’s tech trends, the impact of Covid-19 and consumer demands.
• Current university students on either an undergraduate or postgraduate degree course in the UK are invited to enter. CDK encourages collaboration, so multi-disciplinary teams of up to five, are welcome.
• Teams are invited to take a fresh approach on an existing CDK product or create something completely new to help dealerships and consumers of the future.
• During the idea development phase, teams will be provided with CDK mentors who can help answer any questions and share their industry knowledge throughout the process.
• Students will have from 9^th November – 18th December 2020 to submit a short proposal which will then be reviewed by CDK Global in January 2021.
• Successful teams will then have from 1^st February to 16th April 2021 to develop and create their ideas.
• Following this, CDK judges will attend each university as part of a judging day to decide a winner from The University of Buckingham.
• The national final will take place on 12^th May 2021, where each winning university team will present their idea to a panel of judges including the CDK Global senior leadership team, Tim Rose, editor of leading trade title Automotive Management and Julia Muir, CEO of Gaia Innovation (a non-profit Social Enterprise founded by Julia Muir to facilitate positive interactions between students and employers in order to inspire young people to equip themselves with higher-level skills).
• Alongside potential places on the CDK graduate scheme, there is a total national prize of £10,000 for the overall winning team and a £3,000 prize for the winning team from each university.

Joaquim Croca, Vice President, Commercial at CDK Global said: “At CDK Global, we believe in unearthing and nurturing upcoming diverse talent and we want to attract more of the country’s finest graduates into the automotive industry. We also believe in supporting innovation by giving students the tools to harness their knowledge and creativity to help solve any future issues within the automotive industry. The CDK Dealer Tech – University Automotive Technology Competition gives students the chance to gain hands on experience and raise awareness of the career opportunities available to them.”