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Jaguar Land Rover slumps to quarterly loss after hack halted production

A cyberattack that halted Range Rover production for more than a month cost the SUV brand’s owner big time.

Jaguar Land Rover said Friday it swung to a quarterly loss of almost $750 million after stopping its assembly lines in September to manage a debilitating hack. In the same period last year JLR made roughly $375 million in profit. The reversal reflects a dramatic decline in revenue as well as more than $250 million in one-time costs associated with the incident.

The attack is likely the most costly of a series of cyberattacks targeting some of the U.K.’s best-known businesses this year. It also took its toll on the British economy. A sharp fall in car production hit U.K. economic growth in September, official data showed Thursday.

“It is honestly like nothing else I’ve experienced,” said Chief Financial Officer Richard Molyneux on a call with reporters. “We went through a really massive learning curve.”

The suspension of assembly lines at JLR hit a diffuse network of suppliers, many of them small and financially fragile, that ship parts to its factories. In late September, the U.K. government guaranteed up to roughly $2 billion in loans to the automaker, giving it the firepower to pay suppliers up front during the restart phase.

JLR started to resume operations on Oct. 7, beginning with its engine plant and stamping presses. The company said Friday its operations were almost back to normal.

Molyneux said there would be further costs associated with the hack in the current quarter, even as the company works to make back some of the sales lost during the shutdown.

“Some of the volume we’ll get back. Some of it we will not, given the state of global demand and competitor oversupply,” he said.

Dealers kept some Land Rover sales to customers going in September by resorting to manual sales processes for vehicles shipped before the shutdown. Retail sales in the quarter fell 17% year over year.

Hackers belonging to a trio of infamous cybercriminal groups—Lapsus$, ShinyHunters and Scattered Spider—appeared to claim responsibility for the JLR hack. The company declined to comment on the live criminal investigation.

Members of the groups are also suspected to be behind attacks perpetrated earlier this year on Marks & Spencer and other U.K. retailers, including posh department store Harrods.

M&S, one of the country’s largest retailers, shut down its online store for weeks in the spring as it dealt with a cyber incident. The company initially estimated the impact on its operating profit at the equivalent of almost $400 million, though an insurance claim ended up covering roughly a third of that amount.

For JLR, the hack came at a difficult moment. President Trump’s trade policy has increased the tariffs due on the vehicles the automaker ships to the U.S., its largest market. The company reported quarterly costs of almost $100 million associated with higher U.S. duties.

JLR, which is owned by India’s Tata Motors, has also been winding down legacy models of its Jaguar brand ahead of a complete relaunch next year.

Meanwhile, the company is undergoing a leadership transition, with Tata Motors Chief Financial Officer P.B. Balaji set to succeed JLR lifer Adrian Mardell as CEO later this month.

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Extended flight deck makes Type 076 one of the world’s largest vessels of its kind, with PLA Navy delivery expected by end of 2026

China’s first drone-carrying Type 076 amphibious assault ship, the Sichuan, began sea trials on Friday, according to state news agency Xinhua.

The ship, launched in December last year, is seen as a key asset for the PLA Navy’s unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operations because of its electromagnetic catapult launch system and is often described as the world’s first drone carrier.

The sea trial will test the reliability and stability of the engine and power system, Xinhua said.

Named after the southwestern Chinese province and bearing the hull number 51, the Sichuan’s launch and naming ceremony was held in December at Shanghai’s Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard.

The trials mark a significant milestone for the People’s Liberation Army’s naval force, which is expected to take delivery of the Sichuan by the end of next year.

This comes shortly after the official commissioning last week of the Fujian, China’s most advanced aircraft carrier and its first to be equipped with electromagnetic catapult technology.

The 076 warship is an upgrade over China’s first amphibious assault ship – the Type 075 – which was launched in September 2019 and went into service 19 months later.

Compared to its predecessor, the Sichuan has an increased full-load displacement of 50,000 tonnes and a larger flight deck with a length of around 260 metres (853ft) and a beam or width of 52 metres (171ft).

The Type 075 has a 40,000 tonne displacement and a 237 by 36 metre flight deck.

The extended flight deck makes the Type 076 one of the largest amphibious assault ships in the world – larger than the US America-class and Japan’s Izumo-class helicopter carriers.

Its size means the Sichuan can carry more aircraft within its internal hangar, and has additional launching space for them.

The Sichuan also stands apart from other amphibious assault ships by its incorporation of electromagnetic catapult and arresting gears – similar to China’s third aircraft carrier, the Fujian.

The catapult assisted take-off but arrested recovery (CATOBAR) system enables aircraft carriers to achieve higher sortie generation rates than their counterparts equipped with ski-jump ramps.

Only flat-top aircraft carriers have traditionally been outfitted with catapults, while amphibious assault ships have been limited to launching helicopters.

The Sichuan is likely to be the first amphibious assault ship equipped with a CATOBAR system and could host both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, which would possibly be UAVs.

The GJ-11 fixed-wing stealth UAV, which could be used for precision strikes and aerial reconnaissance missions, is expected to be one of the drones deployed on the Sichuan as it appears in the ship’s crest design.

Mock-ups of the aircraft were also spotted on board the Sichuan while it was still under construction.

In the first footage of China’s crewed and uncrewed aircraft working together, released by the PLA Air Force on Wednesday, the GJ-11 was seen flying alongside and linked to the J-20 stealth fighter jet.

The drone carrier has become a significant naval trend around the world, with the emphasis on UAVs in modern warfare.

In July, South Korean lawmakers announced plans to scrap a proposed light aircraft carrier and instead build up to three 30,000 tonne drone carriers.

In February, the Iranian military reportedly took delivery of its first drone carrier, the Shahid Beheshti, reconstructed from a former container vessel.