News

Production issues at Jaguar Land Rover's Halewood plant, caused by a targeted cyber hack earlier this week, will last until at least Tuesday, it has been reported.

Workers have been told not to return to work until 9 September, the Liverpool Echo reports. Production at the site is understood to have been halted since Monday.

It follows a cyber attack in which hackers claimed to have exploited a flaw in the British car maker’s IT system.

A notice sent to Halewood workers on Thursday stated: "Friday September 5 and Monday September 8: the leadership team has agreed that production associates will be stood down and will have hours banked in line with the corridor agreement.

"All colleagues are required to attend work as normal on Tuesday September 9 unless informed otherwise.”

Autocar understands the Solihull plant, where the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport are built, is also affected. JLR wouldn’t comment on the claims.

In an effort to combat the hack, JLR began “shutting down our systems” on Tuesday and is now in the process of rebuilding them. JLR was unable to confirm a timescale for the fix.

The issues are also affecting dealers, who are unable to order parts, can't code parts they do have to cars, and are unable – in some instances – to complete customer handovers.

What's more, they are having to manually register vehicles. This involves phoning the DVLA in each instance. Despite the shutdown, the brand has registered almost 600 models this week.

Autocar first reported the issues affecting JLR on Monday, when dealers couldn't register new cars on 'new plate day' (1 September), traditionally one of the year's busiest for registrations.

JLR's public-facing website appears to be fully operational, including the car configurator.

Who has claimed responsibility?

On Wedneday, Scattered Spider, the group that hacked Marks & Spencer in May causing seven weeks of disruption and costing £300 million in lost operating profit claimed responsibility for the attack on JLR.

Along with fellow hacking group Shiny Hunters, it claims to have obtained customer data after exploiting a similar flaw in JLR’s IT system, The Telegraph reports.

The claim was made on a Telegram messenger group, where a user linked to the hackers posted a screenshot of what appeared to show JLR's internal system.

A member of the group told The Telegraph that a well known flaw in SAP Netweaver - third-party software used by JLR - was exploited to access the data.

US cyber agency CISA warned about the flaw earlier this year. An update for the software was released, but whether JLR applied it is unknown.

It's also not known what data was taken or if a ransom demand has been made. 

JLR told Autocar in a statement yesterday that “there is no evidence any customer data has been stolen”.

​According to The Telegraph, the hacking groups are believed to be made up of teenagers from English-speaking countries

Mercedes-Benz has confirmed plans for a return of the G-Class cabriolet nearly a decade after the last open-top version of the hardcore off-roader was phased out.

In an announcement ahead of next week’s 2025 Munich motor show, where the new soft-top is expected to make a brief appearance as part of an update from Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius on future model strategy, the German car maker has said “the G-Class portfolio will be expanded to include a cabriolet”, offered “almost everywhere in the world – and for the first time also in the US”.

No launch timing has been disclosed, but the announcement recalls a lineage of open-air G-Class models stretching back to 1979.

Cabriolets have long been part of the G-Class line-up, with the first, a two-door short-wheelbase model, introduced as part of the original line-up in 1979 and produced up to 2013.

Later came the ultra-luxury four-door G-Class Maybach G650 Landaulet, introduced in 2017 with a 621bhp twin-turbocharged 6.0-litre V12 petrol engine and based on the high-riding G63 4x4². Produced in a limited run of just 99 units, it combined a front hard top with a rear folding roof section, individual rear seats set back in the chassis and a price close to £600,000 in the UK.

A darkened preview image of the new G-Class cabriolet released by Mercedes-Benz confirms a silhouette similar to the existing model, albeit with a shortened roofline. It features familiar G-Class styling cues, including a flat bonnet, outboard indicator units atop the front wings, an upright windscreen and external rear-mounted spare wheel, but with subtle detailing that hints at a folding roof mechanism integrated into the rear.

Technical details have yet to be released, though the new open-top off-roader could conceivably be offered with a choice of diesel, petrol and electric drivetrains.  

The current G450d diesel uses a turbocharged 3.0-litre straight six with 362bhp, while the G500 petrol model has a turbocharged 3.0-litre six-cylinder with 443bhp. Above them is the twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8-powered G63 with 577bhp as well as the electric G580 with 579bhp from four electric motors and a 116kWh battery.

The new G-Class Cabriolet is expected to carry a hefty premium over current models, which start at more than £130,000. 

At the previous Munich motor show, in 2023, Mercedes confirmed it was developing a junior G-Class, referred to by Källenius as the "little G". Smaller than today’s model, it is based on the same MMA platform as that used by the recently launched third-generation CLA and CLA Shooting Brake as well as other new models set to join the Mercedes line-up in the next 12 months, including the new GLA and GLB. 

The Porsche Cayenne Electric will be offered with a wireless charging pad, claimed to be the first manufacturer-supported inductive charging solution on the market.

Officially named Porsche Wireless Charger (PWC), it offers speeds up to 11kW and works in temperatures ranging from -40 to 50deg C. Porsche claims it's unaffected by debris such as leaves or snow. The pad operates at around 90% efficiency.

The pad is straightforward to initiate. When driving towards it, the car's digital display cuts to gridlines overlaid on a feed from a forward-facing camera, to help the driver line up with the pad, drive over it and park in just the right place. 

The Cayenne’s air suspension then lowers the body a few centimetres, a magnetic field fires up beneath it and the invisible transfer of electrons into the battery begins.

You can’t embed the 60mm-tall, 50kg pad into the floor of a driveway or garage for total integration, as this would involve obscuring the sensors that help guide the car onto the pad. It is however completely self-sufficient, as no wallbox is required.

All UK-spec Cayenne EVs will be prepared with the necessary wiring and hoses to accept the 15kg, water-cooled charge receptor that is bolted behind the protective underbody cladding at the front of the car – but the unit itself will be an option, costing around £2000. The pad costs an additional £3000.

Moreover, if a quicker-charging system becomes available in the future, software alone won't be enough to realise that improved rate, said Porsche, so newer hardware would be required. 

Safety systems are integrated into the pad. For example, if the neighbours’ cat is drawn to the heat of the pad, its foreign object detection system will cut the magnetic charge field. When the cat moves, the charging will recommence. 

The system is also equipped with an LTE and wireless LAN module, so it can be controlled via the My Porsche app. Similar to a wallbox, charging can be started and stopped manually or set for activity at off-peak times, and preconditioning is possible.

The PWC will become available next year, when the Cayenne Electric goes on sale with circa-400kW cabled charging speeds and, in top-spec Turbo form, around 1000bhp.