Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), a subsidiary of Tata Motors, announced Monday that it will partially resume manufacturing operations in the coming days. This decision follows a crippling cyberattack earlier this month that forced the British luxury carmaker's global production to a complete standstill.
The company is continuing its intensive efforts, working around the clock with cybersecurity specialists, the UK Government's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), and law enforcement agencies to ensure the restart is executed safely and securely. This information was shared in a statement from a Jaguar Land Rover spokesperson, which was submitted to the BSE by Tata Motors.
Phased restart underway
"As the controlled, phased restart of our operations continues, we are taking further steps towards our recovery and the return to manufacture of our world-class vehicles," the spokesperson stated. "Today we are informing colleagues, retailers and suppliers that some sections of our manufacturing operations will resume in the coming days".
The company thanked its stakeholders for "their continued patience, understanding and support," acknowledging, "We know there is much more to do but the foundational work of our recovery is firmly underway, and we will continue to provide updates as we progress". This manufacturing update comes after JLR began a phased restart of its IT operations last week following the cyber-attack. JLR had also updated the public last Thursday, stating it was actively working to clear the "backlog of payments" to its suppliers by increasing its capacity for invoice processing.
Operational and financial impact
The production halt, now nearing a month, has kept factories in locations like Merseyside and Solihull in the UK, as well as facilities in India, Slovakia, and China, at a standstill until the recovery's "foundational work" was complete.
The extended shutdown is expected to cost JLR tens of millions of pounds a day in lost revenue. This financial strain has raised major concerns for the company's direct workforce of over 33,000 people in the UK and the estimated 200,000 employees across hundreds of companies in its supply chain. Consequently, trade union workers have appealed to the government to intervene with financial support, including the implementation of a furlough scheme, to help the company and its suppliers cope with the prolonged pause.
Government and law enforcement involvement
The UK's Department for Business and Trade (DBT) confirmed that its cyber experts are in contact with JLR to support the restoration of production and are closely monitoring any resulting impacts on the supply chain.
A group identifying itself as Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters is believed to have claimed responsibility for the hack. This same group has been linked to other high-profile attacks on UK retailers, including Marks & Spencer and Co-op, earlier this year.
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