JLR cyberattack caused UK car production to hit 73 year low

A devastating cyber-attack has crippled UK car manufacturing.

New data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) revealed that UK car production in September plunged to its lowest level in 73 years. It is the lowest September figure recorded since 1952, with just over 51,000 vehicles produced.

The primary cause was the five-week shutdown of Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR) factories following an unprecedented cyber incident. The second-largest UK car producer by volume, JLR was forced to halt all global manufacturing operations and did not produce a single vehicle last month.

Overall, UK car production was down by 27.1% compared to a year ago. The SMMT stated that the JLR crisis was “largely responsible for the decline” as other volume manufacturers reported growth or stable figures for the month. The total vehicle production figure, which includes vans, also slumped significantly by 35.9% to 54,319.

The financial cost to the UK is immense. Experts from the Cyber Monitoring Centre (CMC) estimate the incident’s total bill will reach nearly £2 billion (£1.9bn), officially making it the most economically damaging cyber event in UK history. They also found that 5,000 businesses have been affected by the fallout.

The S&P Global analysts estimate that the hack resulted in 50,000 unproduced vehicles. This is expected to hit JLR’s revenues by up to 18% this year, resulting in total sales figures that are £3 billion lower than previous forecasts. Exports for September also slumped by 24.5%.

JLR, which typically produces around 1,000 cars daily, has since resumed limited, phased production at sites including Solihull, Wolverhampton and Halewood. However, a full return to operating at full capacity is not expected until January 2026.

SMMT Chief Executive Mike Hawes confirmed the expected slump, noting that September’s poor “performance comes as no surprise given the total loss of production at Britain’s biggest automotive employer.”

Mr Hawes warned that the sector remains under “immense pressure.” The SMMT is urging Chancellor Rachel Reeves not to end an employee car benefit scheme (ECOS), stating that removing the tax break would cause “severe and lasting damage to jobs and the industry’s competitiveness.”

This incident compounds ongoing concerns for the sector, which has seen overall production for the year so far fall by 15.2% compared to the same point in 2024. Despite the immediate crisis, some analysts remain optimistic, with Autotrader’s chief commercial officer Ian Plummer calling it a “severe, but short-term issue” and predicting a future surge in demand that echoes the post-Covid sales environment.