British automotive giant Jaguar Land Rover has suffered a severe financial blow in the wake of a major cyber security incident that brought its factories to a standstill. Newly released figures reveal a dramatic collapse in vehicle sales during the final quarter of 2025.
Production Halted as Cyber Attack Cripples Factories
The company, a cornerstone of the UK's manufacturing sector with key plants in Birmingham and Coventry, saw its operations severely disrupted. The cyber attack, which occurred in September 2025, forced a complete stoppage of vehicle production. JLR confirmed that production only returned to normal levels by mid-November following the incident.
This disruption had an immediate and profound impact on output. For the three months ending in December 2025, JLR produced just 59,200 vehicles. This represents a staggering drop of approximately 45,000 units compared to the same period in 2024, when output reached 104,400 vehicles.
Quarterly Figures Reveal Steep Decline
The operational chaos translated directly into poor sales performance. Wholesale figures plunged by more than 43 per cent year-on-year for the quarter. Retail sales to customers also took a significant hit, falling by a quarter to 79,600 vehicles.
In an official statement, JLR explained the lag between production recovery and sales figures: "Due to this and also the time required to distribute vehicles globally once produced, wholesale and retail volumes reduced on a quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year basis." The company cited additional factors, including the planned wind-down of legacy Jaguar models ahead of new launches and incremental US tariffs impacting exports to a key market.
Leadership Acknowledges Resilience Challenge
JLR's Chief Executive, Adrian Mardell, commented on the company's challenging second quarter. "JLR's performance in the second quarter of FY26 was impacted by significant challenges, including a cyber incident that stopped our vehicle production in September and the impact of US tariffs," he stated. Mardell did strike a positive note on recovery, adding, "JLR has made strong progress in recovering its operations safely and at pace following the cyber incident."
The incident prompted reflection at the highest levels of parent company Tata Motors. Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran addressed the attack in his annual open letter, framing it as a critical lesson in corporate resilience. "JLR's cybersecurity attack emphasised that while growth is a focus, resilience has to be a long-term theme whether it is from a value chain point of view or from a technological angle," he wrote.
Chandrasekaran highlighted the dual-edged nature of modern technology, noting it "creates significant vulnerabilities for large corporations." He concluded with a forward-looking statement: "With heightened vulnerabilities, the question is not simply whether shocks will happen, it is also about how well we can recover from shocks."
The fallout from the attack contributed to a wider downturn in UK car production figures. Data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) showed that overall UK car production dropped by 27.1 per cent in September 2025, the month the cyber attack struck, underscoring JLR's importance to the national industry.
