Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is planning to reopen its £500m engine manufacturing centre in early October after the significant cyber attack on the car firm, according to a report.
Britain’s largest automotive employer has been unable to assemble cars since its computer systems were infiltrated on 31 August.
According to the Sunday Times, the company has put suppliers on notice that production at its Wolverhampton facility will resume on 6 October, subject to the engine manufacturing centre systems passing tests to ensure no remnants of the virus exist.
JLR declined to comment on the report but a spokesperson told the Guardian: “Our teams continue to work around the clock alongside cybersecurity specialists, the NCSC and law enforcement to ensure we restart in a safe and secure manner.
“The foundational work of our recovery programme is firmly underway, and we will continue to provide regular updates to our colleagues, retailers and suppliers. We thank everyone connected with JLR for their continued support and patience.”
Following the cyber attack, the company was forced to shut down most of the systems it uses to track parts, vehicles and tooling in its factories, as well as everything to do with selling its luxury Range Rover, Discovery and Defender SUVs.
JLR has subsequently restarted some IT systems and regained the ability to repay suppliers, send parts to mechanics to repair vehicles on the road, and to send finished cars at its factories to showrooms.
With plants in Solihull and Wolverhampton in the West Midlands in addition to Halewood in Merseyside, JLR is one of the UK’s largest exporters and employs 34,000 people in its UK operations.
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It also operates the largest supply chain in the UK automotive sector, much of it made up of SMEs, and employs about 120,000 people.
