Britain's largest car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover has revealed that a devastating cyber attack cost the company nearly £200 million, forcing a complete shutdown of its UK production facilities for over a month.
Factory Shutdown and Production Halt
The Midland-based automotive giant was targeted by hackers on August 31, prompting the immediate closure of all its British manufacturing plants from September 1. The cyber attack represents the biggest hack in British history and resulted in JLR staff being unable to work across its production network.
All of the company's manufacturing sites – including factories in Solihull, Castle Bromwich and Halewood, Merseyside – remained inactive for five weeks before gradually restarting operations last month.
Financial Impact and Revenue Plunge
The consequences of the cyber attack were severe financially. JLR recorded £196 million in extra costs directly linked to the security breach, alongside £42 million related to voluntary redundancies.
Quarterly revenues plummeted by more than £1 billion – approximately 24 per cent – falling to £4.9 billion for the three months to September. The company swung to an underlying loss of £485 million during the quarter, a dramatic reversal from a profit before tax and exceptional items of nearly £400 million over the same period in 2024.
Recovery Efforts and Additional Challenges
Despite the significant setbacks, JLR stated it has "made strong progress" in recovering its operations at pace since the attack. The company has been working intensively to restore normal manufacturing capacity across its UK facilities.
Beyond the cyber attack, JLR's performance was also impacted by US tariffs and a planned wind down in the production of previous Jaguar models, compounding the challenges facing the automotive manufacturer during this difficult period.
