Jaguar Land Rover has extended its shutdown on car production, as Britain’s biggest carmaker grapples with the aftermath of a cyber-attack.
JLR said on Tuesday it would freeze production until at least next Wednesday, 24 September, as it continues its investigations into the hack, which first emerged earlier this month.
The manufacturer said: “We have taken this decision as our forensic investigation of the cyber incident continues, and as we consider the different stages of the controlled restart of our global operations, which will take time.
“We are very sorry for the continued disruption this incident is causing and we will continue to update as the investigation progresses.”
JLR, which is owned by India’s Tata group, stopped production at its sites after discovering hackers had infiltrated its systems a few weeks ago.
The company has since found the attack has affected “some data”, although it said it could not provide more details of what data was affected, or if customers’ or suppliers’ information was stolen, but that it would contact anyone affected.
The costs of the cyber-attack are likely to be growing for JLR, with production at its factories in the Midlands and Merseyside on hold. Other production facilities around the world have also been affected, fuelling speculation that it could be weeks until systems are operational.
The freeze has also affected suppliers and retailers for JLR, with some operating without computer systems and databases normally used for sourcing spare parts for garages or registering vehicles.
Last week, the Unite union warned that thousands of workers in the JLR supply chain were at risk of losing their livelihoods, and urged the government to step in with a furlough scheme to support them.
Disruption from the cyber-attack could last until October. Thousands of JLR production workers have been told not to come in to work, and reports suggest a number of the company’s suppliers have also had to tell their staff to stay at home.
The shutdown has reportedly led to JLR missing out on production of 1,000 cars a day, losing £72m each day in sales.
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A group of hackers, linked to other serious hacks this year on retailers including Marks & Spencer, have claimed responsibility for the attack on JLR. Screenshots which are allegedly of JLR’s internal IT systems were posted on a Telegram channel that combined the names of groups of hackers known as Scattered Spider, Lapsus$ and ShinyHunters.
The disruption at JLR comes as it faces falling profits amid the impact of US tariffs and declining sales. The carmaker reported that underlying pre-tax profits dropped 49% to £351m in the three months to June. That included a period when the company temporarily paused exports to the US.
The company also faced criticism last year over its rebrand of Jaguar, and its new electric cars are not expected to launch until next year.
Chris McDonald, a minister at the business department, said on Tuesday: “We know this is a worrying time for those affected by this incident and our cyber experts are supporting JLR to help them resolve this issue as quickly as possible.
“I met the company today to discuss their plans to resolve this issue and get production started again, and we continue to discuss the impact on the supply chain.”
