UK pledges 1.5 billion pounds loan guarantee for Jaguar Land Rover post cyberattack

New Delhi, Sep 28 (IANS) The UK government has announced a 1.5-billion pound ($2 billion) loan guarantee for Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) to stabilise its supply chain following a cyberattack that halted production for nearly a month.

The assistance comes amid small suppliers of the company informing that they had one week left at most before they ran out of cash.

Tata Motors, which owns Jaguar Land Rover, operates three factories in the UK, producing approximately 1,000 vehicles daily and supporting thousands of jobs in Birmingham and Liverpool.

Smaller suppliers faced critical financial strain due to the extended shutdown, and a recent survey revealed that companies are reducing staff hours or making redundancies.

UK's Business minister Peter Kyle said the cyberattack was "not only an assault on an iconic British brand but on our world-leading automotive sector", adding that the "loan guarantee will help support the supply chain and protect skilled jobs."

The business ministry announced that financing will be privately raised, guaranteed by Britain's export credit agency UK Export Finance, and is expected to unlock 1.5 billion pounds of support for Land Rover's supply chain.

Shares of Tata Motors fell around 4.98 per cent this week but rebounded 1.45 per cent on Friday following reports that its British subsidiary, could incur a potential uninsured loss of approximately €2 billion due to the cyberattack on September 2.

Reportedly the impact could surpass JLR’s total profit from the last fiscal year, as JLR had not finalised a cyber insurance policy potentially leaving the automaker uninsured for the attack.

Jaguar Land Rover announced it will extend factory closures until October 1.

The company's three UK plants in Solihull, Halewood, and Wolverhampton used to produce approximately 1,000 cars daily, with reports estimating losses of around 50 million pounds per week due to the plants being shutdown.

--IANS

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