S&P Revises Tata Motors PV Outlook to Negative on JLR Cyberattack Impact

S&P Global Ratings revised its outlook on Tata Motors PassengerVehicles Ltd. to negative late Thursday, citing prolonged operational disruption at its UK-based luxury car unit, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), following a major cyberattack.

“The negative outlook reflects our view that a recovery from the operational disruption following a cyber incident at JLR could be prolonged and lead to Tata Motors PVs’ credit metrics staying weaker for longer,” S&P said.

A cyberattack in September had halted JLR’s production for nearly the entire month, with operations only restarting gradually since then. Despite the outlook downgrade, S&P affirmed the company’s long-term issuer credit rating at BBB-.

The rating agency expects JLR’s revenue to fall 15–18% this fiscal to around £24 billion, with profitability likely to remain under pressure due to steady investment spending amid the production slowdown.

S&P warned that JLR could face a permanent loss in production volumes and potential delays in key model launches. “Such risks would intensify if rising sales volumes in other regions are not enough to offset prolonged weakness in China,” it added.

However, S&P expects Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles’ domestic business to continue generating sufficient cash flow to fund its investments and maintain stronger credit metrics than JLR. It also highlighted the company’s strategic importance within the Tata Group.

“We believe Tata Sons will step in to provide strong support in the event of credit stress to both Tata Motors PVs and JLR, based on Tata Sons’ track record,” S&P said.

The agency said it may revise the outlook back to stable if the company’s credit metrics improve faster than expected.
For the June quarter, Tata Motors reported a consolidated net profit of ₹39.24 billion on revenue of ₹1.04 trillion, while its passenger vehicle business saw revenue fall just over 8% on year to ₹108.77 billion.