www.jlr.com Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) yesterday confirmed the phased restart of its manufacturing operations following the cyber incident that disrupted production in early September. The company also unveiled a new short-term financing arrangement designed to support the cashflow of qualifying suppliers during the recovery period.
Production recommenced at the Electric Propulsion Manufacturing Centre and the Battery Assembly Centre in the West Midlands, where JLR produces engines and battery systems. Staff are also returning to stamping operations at Castle Bromwich, Halewood and Solihull, as well as key areas of the Solihull vehicle production plant, including the body shop, paint shop and Logistics Operations Centre, which supplies components to JLR’s global manufacturing network.
Vehicle production in Nitra, Slovakia, and the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport lines at Solihull are expected to restart later this week. Further updates will follow regarding the phased restart at Halewood on Merseyside.
In parallel, JLR is implementing a new supplier financing scheme to provide upfront payments to qualifying suppliers during the restart phase. The scheme follows several interim measures introduced since the cyber incident, including a supplier help desk, manual invoice processing and the reactivation of automated payment systems.
Production-critical suppliersUnder the new arrangement, suppliers will receive a majority prepayment shortly after order placement, followed by a final payment upon invoice receipt. This accelerates payment by up to 120 days compared to JLR’s standard 60-day terms. The company will cover financing costs for suppliers using the scheme during the restart period. Initially focused on production-critical suppliers, the scheme will be extended to include selected non-production suppliers. JLR has also taken steps to strengthen its liquidity position in recent weeks to support the business through the disruption.
JLR’s CEO Adrian Mardell 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 cashflows. I would like to thank everyone connected to JLR for their commitment, hard work and endeavour in recent weeks to bring us to this moment. We know there is much more to do but our recovery is firmly underway.”