JLR to restart production after cyber-attack shutdown

JAGUAR LAND ROVER (JLR) is expected to restart some production this week after a cyber-attack forced the company to suspend operations and send workers home.

Manufacturing will first resume at JLR’s engine plant in Wolverhampton, though it may take several weeks for all sites to return to full capacity, BBC reported.

Work at JLR’s three UK factories in the West Midlands and Merseyside had been halted since the late August attack, which shut down IT systems and stopped vehicle production and parts distribution.

The hack, claimed by a group calling itself Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters, is estimated to have cost the company at least £50 million a week.

The government has guaranteed a £1.5 billion loan to help JLR support its parts and service suppliers.

Some suppliers, including small firms like Genex UK, have struggled financially and laid off staff during the shutdown.

Evtec Group chairman David Roberts told the BBC the stoppage had severely affected communities in the West Midlands.

JLR said its recovery programme was “firmly under way,” with its global parts logistics centre “returning to full operations.” Experts said production will resume gradually as supply chains recover.