JLR is now back building cars following September's cyber attack

JLR will present its second-quarter financial report in November.

Government to underwrite £1.5bn JLR loan

The UK government said it will guarantee a £1.5 billion loan to JLR, to help it support suppliers who have been hit by the production shutdown.

The loan to the Tata-owned car maker will be issued by a commercial bank but will be underwritten by the UK government.

As well as costing JLR an estimated £50 million a week, the cyber attack has badly hit JLR's suppliers. 

It's estimated that around 150,000 people are employed by some 700 British firms that supply JLR, and the UK government had been investigating ways to support them, such as a furlough scheme or loans.

It will instead underwrite a single loan to JLR through the Export Development Guarantee (EDG), with JLR repaying the money over a period of five years. 

Business secretary Peter Kyle said on 27 September that the loan guarantee "will help support the supply chain and protect skilled jobs in the West Midlands, Merseyside and throughout the UK".

Chancellor Rachel Reeves added that the loan would help JLR "support their supply chain and protect a vital part of the British car industry".

JLR hack: what happened?

Autocar first reported issues affecting JLR on 1 September, when dealers couldn't register new cars on 'new plate day', traditionally one of the year's busiest for registrations.

In an effort to combat the hack, JLR began “shutting down" its systems on 2 September. It has not produced any cars globally since, leading to millions of pounds of lost income.

The extent of the issues meant JLR brought police and cybersecurity experts in to “restart our global applications in a controlled and safe manner”.

During this process, which included an investigation, it was discovered that "some data" was "affected", according to JLR. Those affected will be contacted, the firm said.

It's not officially known what data was taken or if a ransom demand has been made, but it is thought it most likely involves customer data, given the involvement of the police.

Who has claimed responsibility for JLR hack?

On 3 September, a group of hackers calling themselves Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters claimed responsibility for the attack on JLR.

This is the same group that hacked Marks & Spencer in May, causing the British retailer seven weeks of disruption and costing £300 million in lost operating profit.

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Will Rimell

Title: News editor

Will is Autocar's news editor.​ His focus is on setting Autocar's news agenda, interviewing top executives, reporting from car launches, and unearthing exclusives.

As part of his role, he also manages Autocar Business – the brand's B2B platform – and Haymarket's aftermarket publication CAT.