UK's Jaguar Land Rover cyberattack shutdown to hit four weeks

By Sarah Young

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain's biggest car maker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is extending the closure of its factories until October 1 following a cyberattack in early September which has left its operations paralysed and smaller suppliers struggling.

The luxury carmaker, owned by India's Tata Motors, has three factories in Britain which produce about 1,000 cars per day.

The group is said to be losing tens of millions of pounds, with many of its 33,000 staff told to stay at home.

British business minister Peter Kyle is due to visit JLR later on Tuesday and talk to companies in its supply chain about how it can help.

"We have two priorities – helping Jaguar Land Rover get back up and running as soon as possible and the long-term health of the supply chain," said Chris McDonald, ministry for industry, who will also attend the meetings later.

As well as wanting to keep the supply chain intact and save jobs, the government will be conscious of the hit to the economy from the shutdowns.

The S&P Global's survey of the manufacturing sector on Tuesday showed a downturn in output, with some factories citing JLR's shutdown impacting activity in wider automotive supply chains.

JLR is the latest victim in a string of cyber and ransomware attacks around the world. In Britain, retailer Marks & Spencer and the Co-op have been targeted by increasingly sophisticated breaches.

JLR said on Tuesday it was preparing plans to resume production even as it extended the pause.

"We have made this decision to give clarity for the coming week as we build the timeline for the phased restart of our operations and continue our investigation," JLR said as it announced the October 1 date.

JLR, which makes the Range Rover and the Defender, said its production supported 104,000 jobs in supply chains across the country. The Unite trade union has warned of job losses and called for government support to keep companies solvent.

(Reporting by Sarah Young; Additional reporting by Suban Abdulla; Editing by Kate Holton, Paul Sandle and Louise Heavens)