Jaguar Land Rover is currently suffering a major cyber attack that has left it unable to register any new models during one of the busiest periods of the year.

The British car maker has been hit bit by a cyber 'incident' that's caused 'severe disruption' to production and retailers, with the breach impacting its production sites and preventing dealers from registering new '75' plate on the road since Monday.

The problem has occurred at the worst time possible, with September typically one of two months in the calendar when showrooms see most activity.

This is due to the arrival of the new age identifying number plate - which occurs biannually, once on 1 March and again on 1 September each year - and coincides with manufacturers launching deals to tempt motorists into purchasing the latest model displaying the most up-to-date plate.

In a statement given to the Daily Mail, a spokesperson at the car maker said: 'JLR has been impacted by a cyber incident. We took immediate action to mitigate its impact by proactively shutting down our systems. 

'We are now working at pace to restart our global applications in a controlled manner.'

They added: 'At this stage there is no evidence any customer data has been stolen but our retail and production activities have been severely disrupted.'

A JLR dealer initially raised the problem with Autocar on Monday (1 September), saying it has been unable to register any cars as a result.

The dealership was unable to provide any details on the nature of the IT problem, only that it was impacting the system it uses to register new models.

It reported that a resolution had yet to be found with no word on when it is going to be fixed.

As such, it means JLR has yet to register a new model this month and it tackles the breach. 

Local reports have also suggested that the company sent staff home from the Halewood plant near Liverpool yesterday. 

The Liverpool Echo reports the attack was identified at 4.30am on Monday. 

The shutdown has continued into Tuesday and is likely to extend in Wednesday, the local paper said.

In an update sent to staff, the firm is reported to have said: 'The leadership team has agreed that production associates will be stood down and will have hours banked in line with the corridor agreement.'

JLR's ability to react so quickly to the breach and shut down its systems is thanks to its IT service provider being a subsidiary of its parent group, Tata.

In 2023, the car manufacturer announced it had extended its partnership with TCS - Tata Consultancy Services - to 'accelerate digital transformation across its business'.

It said the deal with the 'world leader in information technology' will help JLR 'create a simplified and leading‑edge IT infrastructure'. 

The five year deal, worth more than £800million over the five-year agreement from 2023 to 2028, is claimed to 'deliver efficiencies over the cost of existing services that will reduce JLR’s net expenditure and unlock free cash flow'.

Despite the issue, showrooms remain open for businesses.

The car maker's parent company Tata has also made the issue known.

The Indian multinational conglomerate has posted a notice to the Indian stock exchange in which it refers to the issue as an 'IT security incidence' without giving further details.

The incident at Jaguar comes after a number of other British firms were targeted by hackers, causing havoc.

Marks and Spencer, the Co-op and Harrods were targeted by hackers earlier this year. The attacks shut down M&S's website and affected day-to-day Co-op stores, while Harrods said its systems had been accessed.

What cyber security experts say 

Commenting on the cyber incident, Dray Agha, senior manager of security operations at security specialist Huntress, said, 'This incident highlights the critical vulnerability of modern manufacturing, where a single IT system attack can halt a multi-billion-pound physical production line, directly impacting sales, especially during a key period like a new registration month. 

'Cybercriminals know this, and many leverage the stopped clock of business functions as the leverage they need to force capitulation of ransomware demands. 

'It is not known if ransomware was involved in the Jaguar Land Rover attack, but ransomware actors target manufacturers for a reason.'

Agha added: 'While the quick shutdown of systems was a textbook damage limitation tactic that likely prevented a data breach, it underscores the immense recovery challenge companies now face in safely rebooting complex, interconnected operations after an attack. 

'In 2025, there are still companies that wait until a devastating cyberattack to invest in a robust security posture. 

'Fortunately, Jaguar Land Rover appears to have had processes and procedures in place to "lessen the effect" and return to business as usual. 

'Containment and recovery are crucial parts of responding to an incident, and many organisations still do not have the detection and response technologies to neutralise security intrusions.'

Jake Moore, global cybersecurity advisor at antivirus and internet security provider ESET, commented: 'Cybercriminals often aim for the biggest possible disruptive impact on their victims. 

'Striking at a time when more than usual customers are likely to see potential delays with their new vehicle registrations and/or deliveries will have been a tactful decision made by the attackers to deliver their message loudest.

'Even though there is no evidence to suggest customer data has been compromised so far, any cyberattack on a company of this size is a reminder to secure all accounts by enabling multi-factor authentication, using unique passwords and where possible, remain on guard for suspicious messages.'

September is 'new plate month' - but what do the characters in your number plate mean?

There's always a lot of excitement around 'new plate months' of March and September. But do you know what the characters in a number plate refer to? 

The first two few letters are an indication of the region in which the car is registered. This is called a 'DVLA Memory Tag'.

The numbers are then the age identifier. In March, this will represent the year, for instance March 2025 models display a '25' plate, and March 2026 cars will use a '26' age identifier.

For September, the age identifier is plus 50, so this month's registrations change to '75' and September 2026 new models will show a '76' plate.

The three letters at the end of the number plate is randomly generated and is used as a way of uniquely identifying the car. 

Plate regional identifier tells you where your car was registered

Below is the list of regional identifiers from the DVLA's guide. It will not use I, Q or Z in local tag identifiers and will only use Z as a random letter.

What rules are there about how plates are displayed? 

Manufacturers making plates must follow rules around fonts, font sizes, colours and placements. 

Drivers who don't display their number plate correctly will fail their MOT and could be fined up to £1,000 if caught.

In practice you will regularly see number plates where the display has been tweaked to make it say a word or name, but this is not legal and police can and do pull people over for it. 

The DVLA guide to number plates explains: 'You cannot rearrange or misrepresent the numbers and letters on a number plate to form names or words, so that they are hard to read. 

'For example, fixing bolts to change any of the letters or numbers. You could be fined up to £1,000 and your car will fail its MOT test if you drive with incorrectly displayed number plates. 

'In some cases, the registration number may be permanently withdrawn. If you misrepresent a vehicle registration number you will not get back any money that you have paid for the registration number, or any other costs you have to pay. 

'You can't use a registration number to make your vehicle appear younger than it actually is.'

Does a number plate change reduce your car's value? 

New plate cars are always in demand, although less so than they once were. 

A car on a new plate will obviously be newer and has a knock-on effect on those on previous plates but this will not make a substantial difference to car value.

Condition, history, mileage and other factors will tend to matter more to buyers than a six monthly plate change.  

Darryl Bowman from the car insurance app Cuvva said: 'If you're looking to sell your car soon and want the best price possible, it's best to sell before the new plates come out.

'And if you want to grab a bargain for a nearly-new car, buying a car that's registered one plate back might be a good idea.

'There are ways to lower the depreciation of a car, including regular servicing, MOT checks, choosing a popular model and reducing your driving time to keep mileage low.'