Ashley Bernstein, the owner of Merseyside Car Hospital in Birkenhead, has been left unable to complete repairs due to a lack of parts from Jaguar Land Rover (JLR). The carmaker was forced to suspend production at the end of August after a cyber-attack shut down its IT networks. Production at its factories, including the one in Halewood on Merseyside, will not resume until 1st October at the earliest.
Bernstein, whose garage specialises in accident repairs for insurance companies, told BBC Radio Merseyside: “It is becoming increasingly difficult to get parts – especially the more common parts. Maybe we are able to get a couple of parts but we can’t repair the whole vehicle. We’ve got two cars awaiting parts we can’t repair properly.” He added that this situation is inconveniencing customers who are left without a car.
Some insurance companies, such as NFU, have been understanding of the situation and are starting to provide hire cars to customers.
Fears are growing that some suppliers, particularly smaller firms that rely heavily on JLR’s business, could face closure without support. In response, ministers are considering intervening, with one idea being that the government could buy component parts from suppliers to keep them in business until JLR’s production lines are back up and running. JLR, owned by Tata Motors, normally builds around 1,000 cars a day and has a supply chain of 100,000 workers.
An investigation into the attack is ongoing, with reports suggesting it is costing the company at least £50m a week in lost production.
Source: BBC News
