Jaguar Land Rover begins phased restart after major cyber-attack
Jaguar Land Rover has started a gradual restart of its production lines, more than a month after a severe cyber-attack forced the British carmaker to halt operations worldwide.
The company also reported a sharp decline in quarterly sales during what it described as a “challenging period.”
The hack, which occurred at the end of August, disrupted JLR’s manufacturing and retail systems, forcing temporary shutdowns across its global network.
As part of the restart, operations are resuming this week at key sites in the West Midlands, including the engine plant in Wolverhampton and the battery assembly centre in Hams Hall near Birmingham. Work is also restarting at stamping facilities in Castle Bromwich, Halewood and Solihull, along with critical parts of the Solihull site such as the body shop, paint shop and logistics centre.
Production in Nitra, Slovakia, will follow shortly, while the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport lines in Solihull are restarting this week. An update on the Halewood plant on Merseyside will be announced soon.
JLR also introduced a new short-term financing scheme to support suppliers during the restart, allowing eligible firms to receive payments earlier than usual. The company said the scheme would later expand to include some non-production suppliers.
According to newly published figures, JLR’s retail sales dropped 17% year on year to 85,495 vehicles in the three months to 30 September, while wholesale deliveries fell 24%. The decline reflected the production stoppage, the planned phase-out of older Jaguar models, and US tariffs affecting exports.
Sales fell across all major markets, including a 32.3% drop in the UK, 12.1% in Europe, 9% in North America, 22.5% in China and 15.8% in the Middle East and North Africa.
Chief executive Adrian Mardell called the restart “an important moment,” saying: “We know there is much more to do but our recovery is firmly under way.”
Since the cyber-attack, JLR has relied on manual systems to process supplier payments. Automated systems have now been restored, and the new financing plan will allow most suppliers to receive prepayments shortly after placing an order.
The UK government has pledged a £1.5bn loan guarantee to support JLR’s supply chain, though the funding has yet to be released. Business secretary Peter Kyle welcomed the restart as “very welcome news for workers and suppliers,” but acknowledged that many small businesses remain under pressure.
JLR employs around 34,000 people in the UK and works with thousands of small and medium-sized suppliers that together employ about 120,000 people.
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