The British government will underwrite a £1.5 billion (A$3.07 billion) loan guarantee to Jaguar Land Rover to help support its supply chain following a cyberattack that led to production shutdowns.
The luxury carmaker's shutdown lasted almost a month, and the government had been exploring options to support the company and its supply chain, with some small suppliers saying they only had one week until they ran out of cash.
The halt in operations is thought to be costing the carmaker itself at least £50 million per week.
Around 30,000 people are directly employed at the company’s UK plants, as well as 100,000 working for firms in the supply chain.
Jaguar Land Rovers is owned by India’s Tata Motors and has three factories that produce 1,000 cars per day and sustain many jobs around Britain's second biggest city, Birmingham and the northern city of Liverpool.
Business minister Peter Kyle said the cyberattack was an assault on both the “iconic British brand” and also on their “world-leading automotive sector”.
“This loan guarantee will help support the supply chain and protect skilled jobs,” he said.
According to the business ministry, this loan would be privately financed and guaranteed by Britain’s export credit agency, UK Export Finance and was expected to unlock £1.5 billion of support for the carmakers' supply chain.
