Jaguar Land Rover: First UK bailout following cyberattack

LondonSome of the best-known names in UK business – brands also known around the world – have been affected in 2025. by major cyberattacks that have caused them serious operational consequences and enormous economic losses. Marks & Spencer, Co-operative Group, Harrods—which suffered two, one in May and a second last week—and HM have all suffered the effects of the hacker attack. The automobile company Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has also suffered two: the first, last March, carried out by a group called Hellcat. However, the company was able to continue its activity without major disruptions.

But on August 31, Jaguar Land Rover was the target of another cyberattack. And this time, it had to halt production at three of its plants in the United Kingdom—in the West Midlands and Merseyside (around Birmingham and Liverpool)—and also in Slovakia, Brazil, India, and China. hackers Another group known as Scattered Lapsus Hunters has claimed responsibility for the security breach. Initially, Jaguar had indicated that it would not be able to resume production until November. But this Monday, it announced that production will resume on October 6 at the Wolverhampton engine plant and will gradually expand to other factories.

Jaguar Land Rover directly employs 34,000 workers. But around 200,000 of them make their living from the small and medium-sized companies that contribute to the supply chain. Many of those affected only had days of liquidity. To avoid their collapse, this past Saturday the government guaranteed a £1.5 billion loan—the first in the country's history for an event of this nature—to keep them afloat while payment channels, also affected by the computer system failure, are not recovered.

Economic Impact

In the long term, the economic impact of the attack on Jaguar is unpredictable. But some experts have run calculations. David Bailey, professor of business economics at the University of Birmingham, argues that "Jaguar Land Rover's profits will undoubtedly be affected, as happened at M&S and Co-op when they fell victim to cyberattacks earlier this year." Typically, he points out, JLR produces about 1,000 vehicles a day, with an average price of about £72,000. "That means JLR loses daily sales of about £72 million and profits of five million, also per day."

The nature of Jaguar's business complicates the situation. Because the company only produces on confirmed orders. At least throughout the month of September, it hasn't been able to accept any. Therefore, Professor Bailey himself assures that, in the best-case scenario, if activity returns to the plants on the 6th, by October 1, direct losses will have amounted to no less than 2 billion pounds. It's raining on wet ground because electric vehicle production has stalled and has postponed the launch of two models, and because Donald Trump's erratic tariff policy has raised more questions than it has offered certainties to the industry.

And if we take official data from 2024 as a reference, when Jaguar Land Rover produced 401,303 vehicles during the fiscal year to March 31, with retail sales reaching 431,733 units, the economic downturn would be even more severe.

What has also been quantified roughly speaking This is the impact of the production stoppage on companies that supply the supply chain, which last week raised the alarm. With production halted and no work in their small and medium-sized factories, some had to start laying off or suspending their workers' contracts. For example, Webasto, which employs 350 workers in Birmingham. The company, which manufactures glass sunroofs used in Range Rovers, reported that it was unable to keep its workforce full-time as a result of the closure.

Following this year's string of serious incidents, the UK's cybersecurity center has focused on the fragility of a system that lags far behind criminals and, furthermore, on the coincidences of the attacks. The Marks & Spencer attack and the Jaguar Land Rover attack were made possible through Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the Indian multinational technology services company that manages much of the software for both companies. TCS, by the way, is owned by the Indian Tata Group, which in turn owns JLR.

There's no exact data on the total cost of hacks to UK companies. But the survey conducted by the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and by the Home Office this year offers a detailed snapshot of the state of cybersecurity in the country. According to the report, 43% of businesses and 30% of charities have suffered some type of cyberattack or security breach in the past twelve months. In total, 612,000 businesses and 61,000 organizations were affected. Jaguar Land Rover and Marks & Spencer have borne the brunt. For now.