JLR has restarted production operations today (8 October), more than five weeks after plants were shut down following a cyber attack that incapacitated its entire global business.
This began with the Wolverhampton engine plant and Birmingham battery centre, and will be followed by stamping operations in Castle Bromwich, Halewood and Solihull.
The Solihull body shop, paint shop and logistics centre – which all feed the British car maker’s global operations – will also restart today.
Vehicle manufacturing will “closely” follow this and begin at an unspecific point this week, said JLR.
This will start with the Land Rover Defender and Land Rover Discovery lines at Nitra, Slovakia, and the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport lines at Solihull.
When production at Halewood will restart is currently unknown, but JLR said further updates “will follow”.
The plant currently builds the Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Discovery Sport and is being transformed as part of a £500 million project to produce JLR's incoming EVs.
In what state production will restart is as yet unknown, but it is expected to initially be restricted, given that JLR has referred to resumption of operations as a “controlled, phased restart”.
On Tuesday (7 October), JLR also confirmed that it's setting up a new financing scheme to pay “qualifying” suppliers ahead of the production restart in an effort to “aid their cash flow in the near term”.
Suppliers have struggled during the production shutdown, with some having to lay off staff just to stay in business. Such have been the difficulties that MPs stepped in and committees were set up.
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