Tata Motors informs regulators of potential JLR customer data breach

Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover has informed regulators about the possibility of customer data leak due to the cyber attack, which had crippled its operations, Tata Motors Group CFO PB Balaji said on Friday.

The British luxury carmaker, which suffered the attack that started in August this year, forcing it to halt its global manufacturing operations across pants, including those in the UK at Solihull, Halewood, and Wolverhampton, has also revised its FY26 guidance with EBIT margin in the range of 0-2 per cent and free cash outflow of 2.2 billion to 2.5 billion pounds.

"As indicated, even during the various briefings that we have done, there is a possibility of customer data having been leaked. Therefore, we've informed the regulators, as per the law of the land," Balaji told reporters.

He was responding to a query during a September quarter earnings call of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd on whether there has been a compromise on JLR customer data due to the cyber attack.

On the legal fallout of the possible customer data breach, Balaji further said there is an investigation underway and the company will take appropriate steps as per the laws of the land.

"The regulators have been kept informed... as investigation progresses, if we find any more information that we need to share with the regulators, we will do so. We are absolutely committed to ensuring that we do the right thing," Balaji asserted.

He further said, "In the light of the cyber challenges that we faced, as well as the current economic demand situation, FY26 guidance has been revised downward, with EBIT margin likely to be in the range of 0-2 per cent and a free cash outflow of 2.2 billion pounds to 2.5 billion pounds this year."  Stating that JLR has now started recovering following the cyber incident, he said production is now returning to normal levels.

"The production downtime was used to accelerate the development and testing work for electrification at JLR facilities such as underbody build validation and implementation of ADAS testing rig at Solihull, and EMA readiness at Halewood," he added.

These activities are part of JLR's previously announced commitment to invest 18 billion pounds over five years from FY24.

JLR said it has restarted systems used to wholesale vehicles, thereby supporting its cash generation, along with its global parts logistics centre.

The company has also taken actions to fast-track the introduction of supplier financing scheme to provide qualifying JLR suppliers with cash upfront during the production restart phase.