Some Sections of Manufacturing Operations to Resume in Coming Days: JLR

Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover on Monday said it will partially resume manufacturing operations in the coming days after being hit by a cyber attack that brought the British luxury carmaker's production to a complete halt earlier this month.

The company is continuing to work around the clock alongside cybersecurity specialists, the UK Government's NCSC and law enforcement to ensure its restart is done in a safe and secure manner, a statement by Jaguar Land Rover spokesperson shared on BSE by Tata Motors said.

"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. Today we are informing colleagues, retailers and suppliers that some sections of our manufacturing operations will resume in the coming days," the spokesperson said.

"We continue to work around the clock alongside cybersecurity specialists, the UK Government's NCSC and law enforcement to ensure our restart is done in a safe and secure manner," The spokesperson further said.

Thanking everyone connected with JLR for "their continued patience, understanding and support", the spokesperson said, "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." Last week, JLR began a phased restart of its IT operations following a cyber-attack that brought the British luxury carmaker's production to a complete halt earlier this month.

In an update issued on Thursday, JLR said it was working to clear the "backlog of payments" to its suppliers by increasing its processing capacity for invoicing.

Production at its factories in Merseyside, north-west England, and Solihull in the West Midlands, as well as facilities around the world, including India, Slovakia and China, remained at a standstill until the "foundational work" of the recovery programme was completed.

The production shutdown, nearing a month, is expected to cost JLR tens of millions of pounds a day in lost revenue and has raised major concerns for the company and jobs in the supply chain. More than 33,000 people are directly employed with JLR in the UK, across assembly lines at its factories, with an estimated 2,00,000 employed by hundreds of companies in the supply chain.

The government's cyber experts are in contact with the company to support the task of restoring production operations, and are working closely with JLR to understand any impacts on the supply chain, the UK's Department for Business and Trade (DBT) said in a statement after a meeting with the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) recently.

Trade union workers have since appealed to the government to step in with financial support, including a furlough scheme, while the company and its supply chain cope with the extended production pause.

A group calling itself Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters is believed to have claimed responsibility for the hack. It was also behind a number of high-profile attacks on UK retailers this year, including Marks & Spencer and Co-op.