Jaguar Land Rover Sales Rebound Strongly After Cyber Attack Disruption
Birmingham-based automotive giant Jaguar Land Rover has announced a significant recovery in sales for the latest quarter, following the resumption of production after a major cyber attack. The company, which is owned by India's Tata Group, reported selling 95,300 vehicles to dealers in the three-month period ending March 31.
Quarterly Sales Surge by Over 60 Percent
This figure represents a dramatic increase of 61.1% compared to the previous quarter, highlighting a robust rebound. Meanwhile, retail sales also showed strong growth, climbing 16.2% to 92,700 vehicles against the prior quarter. The sales surge comes after JLR was forced to suspend production across all its UK manufacturing facilities for five weeks starting September 1 last year due to the cyber incident.
Production Halted at Key UK Plants
The production shutdown affected plants in Solihull, West Midlands, and Halewood, Merseyside, among others, before operations resumed in October. The company has now confirmed that production has returned to normal levels following the cyber attack. However, the disruption had a lingering impact on sales performance when compared year-on-year.
Challenges Persist Despite Recovery
Despite the quarterly surge, dealer sales for the period remained 14.5% below those recorded in the same quarter a year earlier, with a notable 23.1% decline in the UK market. JLR attributed this downturn to several factors, including the ongoing effects of the cyber incident, US tariffs, difficulties in the Chinese automotive market, and the scheduled phase-out of legacy Jaguar models.
Sales in China plummeted by 29.8% amid broader struggles within that market. Year-on-year retail sales for the quarter were down 14.3%, indicating that while the recovery is strong, the company still faces significant challenges in regaining full momentum after the cyber attack and other external pressures.
