Currently reading: JLR restart date unclear after month of shutdown due to hack

British firm will continue recovery from cyber attack with a "controlled, phased" return to car production

JLR is preparing to build its first cars in more than a month, but when production lines will come back online remains unclear, after it missed its previously mooted restart date of 1 October.

The British manufacturer is still working to recover from a significant cyber attack that brought all its factories to a halt at the start of September.

​The hack incapacitated the Land Rover maker, forcing it to shut down its internal computer systems in an effort to protect data from being stolen.

This resulted in production shutdowns at all of its global plants, created issues with parts ordering and stifled retailers.

On 29 September, JLR said "some sections of our manufacturing operations will resume in the coming days", suggesting its previously confirmed turn-on date of 1 October (today) would remain. 

However, factory lines remain at a standstill and JLR wouldn't comment when asked by Autocar when production would restart. 

Further details are still unclear, such as which factories will restart first or what its target volumes will initially be.

On 29 September, JLR said production will restart in a "controlled, phased" manner, suggesting volumes will initially be restricted.

The impact on volumes will be made clear when the company releases its production numbers for the quarter, but in the three months to the end of September last year, it produced more than 80,000 cars.

The effect could be costing JLR up to £5 million a day, business economics professor David Bailey has told Autocar.

The restart comes after the UK government said it will guarantee a £1.5 billion loan to JLR, to help it support suppliers who have been hit by the production shutdown.

The loan to the Tata-owned car maker will be issued by a commercial bank, but will be underwritten by the UK government.

As well as costing JLR an estimated £50 million a week, the cyber attack has badly hit the firm's suppliers. 

It's estimated that around 150,000 people are employed by some 700 British firms that supply JLR, and the UK government has been investigating ways to support them, such as a furlough scheme or loans.

It will instead underwrite a single loan to JLR through the Export Development Guarantee (EDG), with JLR repaying the money over a period of five years. 

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Business secretary Peter Kyle said on Saturday (27 September) that the loan guarantee "will help support the supply chain and protect skilled jobs in the West Midlands, Merseyside and throughout the UK".

Chancellor Rachel Reeves added that the loan would help JLR "support their supply chain and protect a vital part of the British car industry".

Last week, JLR was able to restore some of its IT systems following the back and was able to start paying some of its suppliers.

On 25 September, it confirmed that “sections of our digital estate are now up and running”, including its payment systems – and that it is “now working to clear the backlog of payments to our suppliers as quickly as we can”.

JLR’s Global Parts Logistics Centre, which supplies the parts distribution centres for retailers globally, was also described as “returning to full operations”, meaning servicing and repairs can once again take place. 

JLR is now also able to digitally sell and register new vehicles (it was previously doing the latter via telephone to the DVLA), as its financial system has been brought back online.er.”

Worry for employees

Since the cyber attack, the majority of JLR’s employees have been off work, with lost hours being banked – meaning they will have to be worked later.

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Union Unite said last week that employees within the supply chain are being told to apply for Universal Credit as they are moved onto reduced or zero-hours contracts by employers battling to stay afloat.

Earlier reports suggested that some suppliers “will go bust” as a result of the ongoing issues at JLR.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said the union has written to the UK government demanding it set up a furlough scheme to take the pressure off suppliers by supplementing workers’ pay packets while they’re unable to do their jobs.

“Workers in the JLR supply chain must not be made to pay the price for the cyber attack,” said Graham. “It is the government’s responsibility to protect jobs and industries that are a vital part of the economy.”

Graham cited a similar scheme set up on 15 September by the Scottish government to support bus maker Alexander Dennis and said “a similar scheme for workers in the JLR supply chain [should be set up] now”.

JLR hack: what happened?

Autocar first reported issues affecting JLR on 1 September, when dealers couldn't register new cars on 'new plate day' , traditionally one of the year's busiest for registrations.

In an effort to combat the hack, JLR began “shutting down" its systems on 2 September, and has not produced any cars globally since, leading to millions of pounds of lost income.

The extent of the issues meant JLR brought police and cybersecurity experts in to “restart our global applications in a controlled and safe manner”.

During this process, which included an investigation, it was discovered that "some data" was "affected", said JLR. Those affected will be contacted, said the firm.

It's not officially known what data was taken or if a ransom demand has been made, but it is thought it most likely involves customer data given the involvement of the police.

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Who has claimed responsibility for JLR hack?

On 3 September, a group of hackers calling themselves Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters claimed responsibility for the attack on JLR.

This is the same group that hacked Marks & Spencer in May, causing the British retailer seven weeks of disruption and costing £300 million in lost operating profit.

It claimed to have obtained customer data after exploiting a similar flaw in JLR’s IT system. The claim was made on a Telegram messenger group, where a user linked to the hackers posted a screenshot of what appeared to show JLR's internal system.

A member of the group revealled that a well-known flaw in SAP Netweaver, third-party software used by JLR, was exploited to access the data.

The US's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency warned about the flaw earlier this year. An update for the software was released, but whether JLR applied it is unknown.

It's also not known what data was taken or if a ransom demand has been made of JLR.

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Will Rimell

Will Rimell Autocar
Title: News editor

Will is Autocar's news editor.​ His focus is on setting Autocar's news agenda, interviewing top executives, reporting from car launches, and unearthing exclusives.

As part of his role, he also manages Autocar Business – the brand's B2B platform – and Haymarket's aftermarket publication CAT.

James Attwood

James Attwood, digital editor
Title: Associate editor

James is Autocar’s associate editor, and has more than 20 years of experience of working in automotive and motorsport journalism. He has been in his current role since September 2024, and helps lead Autocar's features and new sections, while regularly interviewing some of the biggest names in the industry. Oh, and he once helped make Volkswagen currywurst. Really.

Before first joining Autocar in 2017, James spent more than a decade in motorsport journalist, working on Autosport, autosport.com, F1 Racing and Motorsport News, covering everything from club rallying to top-level international events. He also spent 18 months running Move Electric, Haymarket's e-mobility title, where he developed knowledge of the e-bike and e-scooter markets. 

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LP in Brighton 30 September 2025
On the positive side, this has not affected Jaguar with the company having “paused” production nearly a year ago. When if ever will it be resumed?
Peter Cavellini 30 September 2025

You'd think with the heading that JLR cars were the best on the planet, it just shows how a few people with a computer can screw up a global company for as long as they wish.

scotty5 28 September 2025

At the end of last year, long before Mr Trump introduced his tariffs, the EU imposed a 20% import duty on imported cars from China, the argument being unfair competition because the Chinese gov subsidised their car industry.

So the question is, should the EU now impose a 20% import duty on JLR cars?

After_shock 28 September 2025

A loan needing to be paid back (backed by the government) is very different to companies partially owned by the government and heavily subsidised by the government! 

Andrew1 29 September 2025
If that loan is not paid back the taxpayer pays it instead. Also being backed by the government means it adds to the pressure on the interest rate the government borrows money with, so it means the government has to pay more interest on its own loans. Educate yourself!
jmcc500 29 September 2025

If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a Merry Christmas

scotty5 30 September 2025

The company is being supported by the British taxpayer. According to the account sheet, JLR is supposed to be well in to the red.  Why do they need government assistance?

I'd 100% back the taxpayer to assist those 3rd party companies who thru no fault of their own, find themselves in a difficult position, but giving the money to JLR?

I'm not saying what China is doing is wrong, I'm just saying why one rule for them and another for JLR?

  

 

 

Paul73 29 September 2025
scotty5 wrote:

At the end of last year, long before Mr Trump introduced his tariffs, the EU imposed a 20% import duty on imported cars from China, the argument being unfair competition because the Chinese gov subsidised their car industry.

So the question is, should the EU now impose a 20% import duty on JLR cars?

 

Imagine making such an ill-consiodered comment, failing to realise their most popular, highest margin vehicles are MADE IN THE EU (Slovakia). 

Hilarious

scotty5 30 September 2025
Paul73 wrote:

Imagine making such an ill-consiodered comment, failing to realise their most popular, highest margin vehicles are MADE IN THE EU (Slovakia). 

Hilarious

Tell us what part of the 'British supply chain' you don't understand and we'll try to explain.

What does it matter about most popular? or highest margin? You're taking a comment out of context to suit your own mindset.