The British car maker is slowly recovering from a cyber attack in 'controlled' phases and has received the equivalent of billions of dollars from the UK Government to help with cash flow issues.
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is expected to reopen some factory doors this week, the first time since the September 1 cyber attack that caused its global production shutdown.
In its latest cyber incident statement, on 29 September, the car maker said that through a “controlled, phased restart,” some parts of its “manufacturing operations will resume in the coming days”.
While it was originally planned to restart on 24 September, UK publication BBC, has reported the first manufacturing will resume in Wolverhampton, England, but when JLR reaches full capacity is unclear.
JLR is reportedly now struggling with a backlog of orders in its production line and issues with third-party retailers.
The UK Government has backed JLR with a £1.5 billion loan guarantee to “support its supply chain”.
The loan from commercial bank, Export Development Guarantee (EDG), will be paid back over the course of five years.
UK Government, Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle said in a statement: “Following our decisive action, this loan guarantee will help support the supply chain and protect skilled jobs in the West Midlands, Merseyside and throughout the UK.”
JLR is continuing to work with cybersecurity experts and the UK Government to create as smooth a restart is possible.
While the intention behind the company-wide shutdown was to prevent any data from being stolen, JLR stated on 10 September, that it “believes that some data has been affected and we are informing the relevant regulators”.
“Our forensic investigation continues at pace and we will contact anyone as appropriate if we find that their data has been impacted,” the brand said.
JLR has faced much public attention these last few months, as the rebranding of the logo sparked much debate from the public and politicians alike.
Ilana is a Melbourne-based journalist who was previously a copywriter in the Big Apple. Having moved to Melbourne for her Master of Journalism, she has written articles about food, farm machinery, fashion, and now the fast and furious. Her dream car has been a Mini Cooper since the fifth grade, eyeing its style and petite size.
