Jaguar Land Rover reported further losses in the final quarter of the year after the cyber shutdown continued to drag on sales.
The motoring giant reported a £310million loss in the three months to 31 December, down from a profit of £523million a year ago.
The decrease in profitability was largely due to the cyber attack, but JLR also pointed to the ‘deterioration of market conditions in China’, the ongoing US tariffs and increased VME.
The company, which is owned by India’s Tata Motors, suffered a cyberattack at the end of August and it did not start manufacturing until early October. Vehicle production only returned to normal levels by mid-November, JLR said.
It came as sales plummeted 39 per cent to £4.5billion, driven by a 43 per cent hit to wholesale volumes – cars sold via dealerships – following the incident.
Last year’s cyber attacks continues to drag on JLR’s sales and profitability
Retail sales – vehicles sold directly to consumers – were down 25 per cent year-on-year and down 6.7 per cent compared to the previous quarter.
JLR incurred £64million of costs related to the incident in the third quarter, having previously reported a £196million hit in the second quarter.
Volumes and profitability were also affected by the continued plan to wind down production of legacy Jaguar models ahead of the new launch this year.
JLR’s earnings before interest (Ebit) margin was -6.8 per cent for the third quarter, down from 9 per cent a year ago. It reaffirmed its full-year guidance for 2026, with an Ebit margin of between 0 and 2 per cent.
Chief executive P.B. Balaji said the final quarter had been ‘challenging’ but that the company was ‘focused on building our business back stronger.’
He added: ‘While the external environment remains volatile, we expect performance to improve significantly in the fourth quarter and we have clear plans to manage global challenges. We have a resilient business and remain focused on transformation.’
In the UK, retail sales were down 13.3 per cent. They fell by 37.7 per cent in North America, 26.9 per cent in Europe and 18.4 per cent in China.
The latest results extend the losses reported in the second quarter, when JLR swung to a £723million loss as revenues plummeted from £4.9billion to £1.6billion. The impact of the attack was so large that it was reported to have dented economic growth last year.
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