Tata Motors’ British subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) on Monday said it will partially resume manufacturing operations in the coming days after being hit by a cyber attack that brought the luxury carmaker's production to a complete halt earlier this month.
“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,” said a JLR spokesperson.
"Today we are informing colleagues, retailers and suppliers that some sections of our manufacturing operations will resume in the coming days. 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,” added the spokesperson.
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. According to reports, JLR will get backing from the UK government for a £1.5 billion ($2 billion) loan aimed at easing the strain on suppliers hit by the production halt.
A group calling itself Scattered Lapsus$ 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.