Britain’s car manufacturing output has slumped to its lowest point in more than seven decades after a devastating cyber attack brought Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR) assembly lines to a standstill for more than a month.
According to new figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), total UK vehicle production collapsed by 35.9 per cent in September, falling to just 54,319 units. Car production alone dropped 27.1 per cent to 51,090, with the industry body blaming the sharp decline almost entirely on JLR’s prolonged shutdown.
The SMMT described the incident as “unprecedented”, noting that other major manufacturers had reported growth during the same period.
JLR, owned by India’s Tata Motors, halted output on 31 August when hackers infiltrated its internal systems. The breach forced the company to suspend operations at plants including Solihull in the West Midlands and Halewood on Merseyside.
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