Jaguar Land Rover Hit By Cyberattack That Roils Production
It comes amid a surge in cyberattacks affecting UK businesses this year.
Jaguar Land Rover said a cyberattack has “severely disrupted” its retail and production activities, dealing another blow to the UK automaker that’s suffered from higher US tariffs.
The manufacturer of Range Rover and Land Rover sport utility vehicles, owned by India’s Tata Motors Ltd, said the intrusion forced it to shut down its systems.
“We are now working at pace to restart our global applications in a controlled manner,” JLR said on its website. There’s no evidence customer data was stolen, it added.
It comes amid a surge in cyberattacks affecting UK businesses this year. Retailer Marks & Spencer Group Plc only resumed full operations in August after a hack brought chaos for nearly four months. Supermarket chain Co-Op suffered a data breach in April, while luxury department store Harrods was also recently targeted.
JLR, which delivered around 400,000 vehicles last year, first reported the IT issues in a stock exchange filing in Mumbai on Monday evening. That date, Sept. 1, was important for UK dealers because the new “75” license plates — denoting the year 2025 — were launched, with customers eager to show off their brand new cars.
It’s just the latest obstacle facing JLR, following a plunge in profit in its most recent quarter. The company had temporarily paused shipments to the US after President Donald Trump imposed higher tariffs on imports.
The UK struck a deal to allow 100,000 British vehicles to be sent into the US at a 10% duty, but that’s still higher than the 2.5% rate that existed before Trump’s trade onslaught.
JLR has also defended a controversial rebrand of Jaguar, which isn’t producing any cars until a new, fully electric lineup is ready next year. Jaguar will target younger consumers, but a video teaser released last year attracted criticism for featuring bright colors and expressionless models dressed for the catwalk — but no vehicles. Jaguar also ditched its signature wild cat logo.
Tata Motors is taking more control over JLR after installing its own finance chief as the British company’s next chief executive officer. PB Balaji takes over in November.
