Netjets US Autumn 2022

MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Inside and out, Ares
transforms already
superlative cars such
as a Bentley.
ALL IMAGES COURTESY ARES DESIGN
“Each and every experience gives you an opportunity
to learn, and from Lotus I learned a lot about loyalty,
teamwork, the corporate world, and how you should get
absolutely everything in writing,” Bahar laughs. “But, you
know, it’s fine. I’m a pragmatic person and accept that
every life has its ups and downs. I won’t make the same
mistakes again. That said, whoever knows me, whoever
works with me, knows that I like to achieve goals in less
time than might be expected. There’s no rush really. It’s
just what drives me. I mean, why take things slower if
you can do them faster?”
That’s an apt question for the world of Ares, with
its 0-60 in three seconds culture and its exasperated
princes. At Ferrari, Bahar recalls, it was standard—as it
remains for most automotive manufacturing—for a new
car to move from drawing board to production in around
four or five years. “But we’re not at Ferrari here, we’re not
at Aston Martin,” he exclaims. “Here, there’s no reason
why we can’t do that in a year, a year-and-a-half. And
we’ve shown now that this is possible if you have good
processes and project management.”
In the long run, might Ares’ more important
contribution be to bring an overhaul of approaches to
luxury car production rather than for car customization?
After all, Bahar claims that Ares is already the world’s
largest coachbuilding company, both by turnover
and number of projects. Within the next five years he
expects it to be manufacturing around 400 of its own
cars every year. It’s an ambitious goal, but Bahar has
experience with doubters. When bankers and private
equity managers told him that it would be impossible
to achieve his proposed business plan within Ares’ first
five years, he decided to do it, and go beyond it, in four
years. And he did.
“It’s just the satisfaction of saying, ‘There, in your
face!’” he says with a knowing smile. aresdesign.com
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