UK government backing allowed JLR to focus on swift recovery, says trade secretary Kyle

MUMBAI: Jaguar Land Rover , which faced a cyberattack in August that disrupted its production globally, is on course for a recovery. The company announced a phased resumption of operations starting Wednesday.

The rebound comes after the UK government extended a 1.5-billion-pound loan guarantee to help the Tata Group-owned British luxury carmaker support its supply chain. The attack forced production halts and cost JLR about 7 million pounds a day.

The financial support was approved earlier this month by UK business and trade secretary Peter Kyle , who is in Mumbai on a two-day visit with PM Keir Starmer and a 125-member delegation of CEOs, entrepreneurs, university heads, and cultural leaders. Kyle told TOI that the UK govt's backing has allowed JLR to focus on recovery, which he said has been "quite swift".

Kyle added that the carmaker will resume production of the Range Rover Sport model this week. "We're now going to see a steady stream of systems and therefore production coming back online," said Kyle, who took over as business and trade secretary a little over a month ago. He is also expected to meet Tata Group leadership during his Mumbai visit. Tata is the largest Indian investor and employer in the UK.


On the cyber incident, Kyle said, "It's too early to make conclusions about the full nature of the attack and its origins. The British government is working very closely with JLR to bring the company back to full production." A hacker group called 'Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters' claimed responsibility for the breach, which forced JLR to shut IT systems.