JLR to restart car assembly lines in days following cyber attack

By ROB HULL, MOTORING EDITOR

Updated:

Jaguar Land Rover will continue to step up its manufacturing operations this week as it looks to recover from the paralysing cyber attack that's pulled the handbrake on its vehicle production for five weeks. Britain's biggest car maker says staff working at its sites in the West Midlands and Merseyside will return on Wednesday while also unveiling plans for a new financing scheme for struggling suppliers to fast-track payments, with cash up-front for qualifying firms suffering from the fallout of the hack.

Jaguar Land Rover will continue to step up its manufacturing operations this week as it looks to recover from the paralysing cyber attack that's pulled the handbrake on its vehicle production for five weeks. Britain's biggest car maker says staff working at its sites in the West Midlands and Merseyside will return on Wednesday while also unveiling plans for a new financing scheme for struggling suppliers to fast-track payments, with cash up-front for qualifying firms suffering from the fallout of the hack.

Assembly line workers will return to its engine plant in Wolverhampton and its battery assembly centre in Coleshill, Birmingham, tomorrow. It will also restart the firm's stamping operations in Castle Bromwich, Halewood in Merseyside, and Solihull, on Wednesday, together with key areas of its Solihull vehicle production plant, such as its body shop, paint shop and its logistics operations centre, which feed parts to the group's global manufacturing sites.

Assembly line workers will return to its engine plant in Wolverhampton and its battery assembly centre in Coleshill, Birmingham, tomorrow. It will also restart the firm's stamping operations in Castle Bromwich, Halewood in Merseyside, and Solihull, on Wednesday, together with key areas of its Solihull vehicle production plant, such as its body shop, paint shop and its logistics operations centre, which feed parts to the group's global manufacturing sites.

JLR said this will be 'closely followed' later this week by operations at its vehicle manufacturing in Nitra, Slovakia, as well as the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport production lines in the Solihull facility. The fallout from the cyber attack, which was carried out late on Sunday 30 August, has crippled JLR to the point where it has not produced a single vehicle in September or thus far in October.

JLR said this will be 'closely followed' later this week by operations at its vehicle manufacturing in Nitra, Slovakia, as well as the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport production lines in the Solihull facility. The fallout from the cyber attack, which was carried out late on Sunday 30 August, has crippled JLR to the point where it has not produced a single vehicle in September or thus far in October.

Car sales figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders over the weekend shows that registrations of JLR models fell 29 per cent last month, though with assembly lines suspended for five weeks, volumes are certain to decline through the rest of 2025. In a statement issued on Tuesday morning, Adrian Mardell, chief executive of JLR, said: 'This week marks an important moment for JLR and all our stakeholders as we now restart our manufacturing operations following the cyber incident.

Car sales figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders over the weekend shows that registrations of JLR models fell 29 per cent last month, though with assembly lines suspended for five weeks, volumes are certain to decline through the rest of 2025. In a statement issued on Tuesday morning, Adrian Mardell, chief executive of JLR, said: 'This week marks an important moment for JLR and all our stakeholders as we now restart our manufacturing operations following the cyber incident.

'From tomorrow, we will welcome back our colleagues at our engine production plant in Wolverhampton, shortly followed by our colleagues making our world-class cars at Nitra and Solihull. 'Our suppliers are central to our success, and today we are launching a new financing arrangement that will enable us to pay our suppliers early, using the strength of our balance sheet to support their cash flows.' 'We know there is much more to do, but our recovery is firmly underway,' he added.

'From tomorrow, we will welcome back our colleagues at our engine production plant in Wolverhampton, shortly followed by our colleagues making our world-class cars at Nitra and Solihull. 'Our suppliers are central to our success, and today we are launching a new financing arrangement that will enable us to pay our suppliers early, using the strength of our balance sheet to support their cash flows.' 'We know there is much more to do, but our recovery is firmly underway,' he added.

JLR said it would update further on the next steps of its 'controlled restart', including its Halewood plant in Merseyside. The group has halted all manufacturing since the start of September after being targeted by hackers. It currently employs more than 30,000 workers in the West Midlands and on Merseyside. Experts have warned the production shutdown could hit the group's bottom line by around £120million, with the firm usually thought to build about 1,000 cars a day.

JLR said it would update further on the next steps of its 'controlled restart', including its Halewood plant in Merseyside. The group has halted all manufacturing since the start of September after being targeted by hackers. It currently employs more than 30,000 workers in the West Midlands and on Merseyside. Experts have warned the production shutdown could hit the group's bottom line by around £120million, with the firm usually thought to build about 1,000 cars a day.

The pause has also left its suppliers in limbo, leading to fears that small firms producing parts for the car giant could collapse without financial support. JLR has the largest supply chain in the UK automotive sector, which employs around 120,000 people and is largely made up of small and medium-sized businesses. The Government recently announced it would underwrite a £1.5billion loan guarantee to JLR to give suppliers some certainty over payments, helping bolster JLR's cash reserves, but calls mounted for more to be done.

The pause has also left its suppliers in limbo, leading to fears that small firms producing parts for the car giant could collapse without financial support. JLR has the largest supply chain in the UK automotive sector, which employs around 120,000 people and is largely made up of small and medium-sized businesses. The Government recently announced it would underwrite a £1.5billion loan guarantee to JLR to give suppliers some certainty over payments, helping bolster JLR's cash reserves, but calls mounted for more to be done.

JLR said on Tuesday that its extended support package would see suppliers paid much faster than under the usual payment terms, by as much as 120 days early. It will start with qualifying JLR suppliers seen as critical to the restart of production, then will be expanded to cover some non-production suppliers who have also been affected. JLR also vowed to pay back financing costs for those JLR suppliers who use the scheme during the restart phase. The firm said it will also publish second-quarter results later on Tuesday.

JLR said on Tuesday that its extended support package would see suppliers paid much faster than under the usual payment terms, by as much as 120 days early. It will start with qualifying JLR suppliers seen as critical to the restart of production, then will be expanded to cover some non-production suppliers who have also been affected. JLR also vowed to pay back financing costs for those JLR suppliers who use the scheme during the restart phase. The firm said it will also publish second-quarter results later on Tuesday.

In the last week, Renault has also confirmed that it has been caught up in its own cyber breach. Renault Group UK emailed drivers to confirm that a third-party data processing business used by the car firm was targeted by hackers. As a result, 'some customers' personal data has been taken from one of their systems,' Renault said.

In the last week, Renault has also confirmed that it has been caught up in its own cyber breach. Renault Group UK emailed drivers to confirm that a third-party data processing business used by the car firm was targeted by hackers. As a result, 'some customers' personal data has been taken from one of their systems,' Renault said.

It has been reported that some owners and customers of Dacia vehicles, which are also made by Renault, have also been affected. The company stressed that no financial data, such as bank account details, or password data was compromised in the attack. But it said data accessed in the hack included some or all of: customer names, addresses, dates of birth, gender, phone number, vehicle identification numbers and vehicle registration details.

It has been reported that some owners and customers of Dacia vehicles, which are also made by Renault, have also been affected. The company stressed that no financial data, such as bank account details, or password data was compromised in the attack. But it said data accessed in the hack included some or all of: customer names, addresses, dates of birth, gender, phone number, vehicle identification numbers and vehicle registration details.

Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.