Jaguar Land Rover employees face another week of uncertainty after the UK manufacturer announced that any return to production will be delayed until at least 1 October. The statement comes as Business Secretary Peter Kyle is set to meet with key suppliers, many of whom are at risk of going out of business.
Production at JLR’s UK plants in Solihull, Halewood, and Wolverhampton has been at a standstill since a major cyber attack in late August. The company had initially hoped to restart production on 24 September, but this has now been pushed back, with no definitive date for a full return to work in sight.
The continuing shutdown is putting immense pressure on the automaker’s supply chain, and fears are growing that some of the smaller firms involved could be forced to close for good.
JLR’s supply chain is believed to support around 104,000 jobs in the UK, and includes many small and medium-sized businesses that are highly dependent on the car maker.
The embattled firm, which typically produces about 1,000 cars a day at its three UK factories, has told many of its 33,000 employees to stay at home while it works on a controlled restart of its global operations.
JLR cyber attack timeline
On 02 September, JLR confirmed that it was the victim of what it described as a “cyber incident” that occurred on 31 August. In order to mitigate the infiltration, the firm’s IT team immediately proceeded to shut down its array of online systems, and thus the various production lines that rely on this type of technology came to a halt.
