Tata Motors' JLR launches financing plan for supplier support

On Tuesday, Tata Motors announced a new financing scheme to assist its suppliers' cash flow in anticipation of restarting manufacturing operations following a serious cyber-attack last month.

It stated it is fast-tracking a supplier financing programme, which establishes upfront payments for suppliers through the restart phase, so qualifying providers will receive payments of up to 120 days early, moving away from the standard terms of 60 days post-invoice. The goal of this initiative is to help alleviate liquidity pressure across JLR’s supply chain.

JLR Chief Executive Officer Adrian Mardell said, “Our suppliers are central to our success, and we are launching a new financing arrangement that will enable us to pay our suppliers early, using the strength of our balance sheet to support their cash flows.”

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JLR stated that suppliers will now receive the majority of prepayment close after placing an order, with the final payment made to suppliers on receipt of the invoice. Importantly, JLR will reimburse suppliers the cost of financing on orders placed while supplying the service during the restart phase.

In addition to the financing scheme, JLR claimed it had instituted a supplier help desk and manually operated payments to address the problem ahead of the reinstatement of the automated process following the September cyber breach.

JLR is reinstating manufacturing at the Electric Propulsion Manufacturing Centre and Battery Assembly Centre in the West Midlands, as well as at the Castle Bromwich, Halewood, and Solihull facilities. Mardell referred to this as an important milestone on the company's road to recovery.