By Contributor,Paul Ellis,Peter Lyon
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Britain’s Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, drives a Land Rover Discovery as she takes part in an off-road driving experience during her visit to Jaguar Land Rover’s Solihull manufacturing plant in Birmingham, central England on November 22, 2017. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited Birmingham for a day of engagements on November 22 which saw them visit Jaguar Land Rover’s Solihull site, Aston Villa Football Club and Acme Whistles, the creator of the first police whistle and the original Acme Thunderer. (Photo by PAUL ELLIS / POOL / AFP) (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
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After suffering one of the worst cyber attacks in British history, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has confirmed that it will restart car production within the coming days following a £1.5 billion commitment from the UK government in order to protect the automotive giant’s vulnerable supply chain.
Some manufacturing to resume in the coming days
Having initially ceased production following a attack on August 31, JLR said in a statement that “some sections of our manufacturing operations will resume in the coming days.” It is believed that production will first start at JLR’s Wolverhampton plant on October 6, before gradually renewing operation at other facilities over the coming weeks.
The government’s financial intervention, the first of its type after a cyberattack, is crucial for the carmaker, with analysts estimating JLR has been losing up to £500 million every week while its sites were shut down.
This follows confirmation from Peter Kyle MP, the UK’s business secretary, that JLR will receive a £1.5 billion loan from the government to assist in paying its suppliers. Many of these are small businesses that depend on JLR, employing in excess of 100,000 people nationwide.
JLR acknowledged on September 2 that it had been the target of what it called a “cyber incident” on August 31. The company’s IT staff promptly shut down its online systems to counteract the infiltration, leading to a stoppage of production lines.
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JLR then ordered its plant workers to stay at home starting the day after the incident. Since then, manufacturing has been suspended at the company’s Halewood, Solihull, Wolverhampton, and international locations as it works with “third-party cybersecurity specialists and alongside law enforcement” to safely restore operations.
“We now think that some data has been impacted as a result of our ongoing investigation, and we are notifying the appropriate authorities,” said a JLR spokesperson on September 10. “Our forensic investigation continues at pace and we will contact anyone appropriate if we find that their data has been impacted.”
A single hack can halt a multi-billion-pound physical production line
The event “highlights the critical vulnerability of modern manufacturing, where a single IT system attack can halt a multi-billion-pound physical production line,” according to Dray Agha, senior manager of security operations at cybersecurity firm Huntress.
JLR will undoubtedly suffer significant losses from this entire affair, whether or not it pays money to placate the hackers. Owned by Tata Motors, the British firm has already experienced a decline in quarterly sales for the first half of 2025, which has been linked to President Donald Trump’s unprecedented tariffs.
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