Cyberattack on Jaguar Land Rover costs UK economy $2.5 billion

The cyberattack halted operations at JLR and over 5,000 associated organisations, including suppliers and dealerships, suspending production at its three UK plants for nearly six weeks and causing major losses from reduced output across its supply chain

A major cyberattack targeting Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), owned by Tata Motors, has inflicted an estimated £1.9 billion ($2.55 billion) loss on the UK economy, according to a new report by the Cyber Monitoring Centre (CMC). The incident, which occurred in August, is being described as one of the costliest cyber events to hit the country.

The attack brought operations at JLR and more than 5,000 connected organisations—including suppliers, logistics partners, and dealerships—to a standstill. Production at JLR’s three UK plants was suspended for nearly six weeks, severely impacting its output of roughly 1,000 vehicles per day. The CMC report attributed most of the losses to the production shortfall across the company’s manufacturing network and its extended supply chain.

Financial strain and government intervention

With operations disrupted, JLR is estimated to have lost around £50 million each week during the shutdown. To stabilise operations and support supplier payments, the UK government approved a £1.5 billion loan guarantee in late September. While limited production resumed in early October, full-scale manufacturing is expected to return only by January 2026, the report said.

JLR directly employs about 34,000 people in the UK, while another 120,000 jobs depend on its supplier ecosystem, many of which were affected by the disruption.

Wider economic fallout

The CMC categorised the JLR breach as a Category 3 systemic event on its five-level severity scale, noting that the impact rippled across downstream sectors. It also warned that losses could rise if production recovery lags further. The report follows a series of high-profile cyber incidents in the UK, including a breach at Marks & Spencer earlier this year that led to losses of around £300 million.