Learn Why Dany Bahar's Canning at Group Lotus helped him Found his Own Company

Born in Istanbul, Turkey (1971), DanyBahar quickly scaled the heights of his career to become the CEO of lotus – in 2010. Earlier on, he was head of the corporate projects and a great acquaintance to Red Bull’s Dietrich Matescchitz. He was also Ferrari’s high-ranking trade and brand VP for some time. Bahar’s experience strategically positioned him to become a success story in the automotive and Motorsports industry.

This article explores Dany Bahar’s history: showing how he started, how he elevated through his career, the challenges he faced, and how he founded his own company, ARES.

Dany Bahar’s Background

Dany’s career started after he attained a Bachelor in Economics and Marketing plus an MBA degree in the same – in Vienna and Monteux while working at Red Bull. In the early 90s, he worked at inline skating before proceeding to work with the International Roller Sports Federation’s President. In mid-2001, Dany started working for a Liechtenstein-based wealth management company – Kaiser Ritter Partner Group.

In 2002, Dany became Dietrich Mateschitz’s right-hand man at Red Bull. During this time, he helped diversify the Red Bull brand into NASCAR and Football after acquiring teams in New York, Ghana, and Salzburg. Later, in 2007, he joined Ferrari as Senior Vice President – Commercial and brand. He was in charge of Ferrari’s worldwide car sales and after sales. His primary task at Ferrari was ensuring customer satisfaction; by ensuring car production was not engineered-based but customer-based. Dany made changes to Ferrari’s conventional way of doing things: the online launch of the California, which allowed carmakers to charm an even wider and younger audience.

In 2010, Group Lotus approached Bahar. They had put in place a 5-year business plan to help the company realise profits once again. Bahar accepted lotus’ offer; he was to become CEO of Group Lotus. During his tenure, he launched five new show cars at the Paris Motor Show. He brought Lotus Motorsport activity back to life by collaborating with F1 teams, Rally, GP2, Le Mans, and other Motorsport disciplines, giving the brand a global reach.

However, in June 2012, he was canned. He was amongst a few other employees involved in legal disputes with Lotus’ new owners. In 2014, Dany started his own company – Ares.

Dany Bahar’s Demise at Group Lotus

Bahar’s career looked bright after his lotus appointment, as CEO. He replaced Mike Kimberly, who had retired due to health reasons. Dany was young and ambitious – perhaps over ambitious. He planned to roll out five new high-end luxury models in short order, over a three, and then five-year period: lotus’ biggest product assault since its inception.

Initially, Lotus’ commitment to itself and its clients was to produce lightweight cars at all costs – Bahar’s line-up contained cars that tilted 3500 lbs or more, except one. These cars raised cost concerns since they borrowed very little from Lotus’ parts bin. In addition, his project was estimated to cost billions; a cost lotus’ former owner (the Malaysian government) was unwilling to commit to. After a short while, Dany found himself under fire over questions about somewhat unrealistic plans and style. He was also unable to make a good case for his grand plan. This led to his dismissal from lotus – due to misuse of funds.

Dany Bahar’s Comeback

After his dismissal from lotus, Bahar sued DRB Hicom – the new owners of the Lotus – in June 2012. He filed a lawsuit (£6.7 million) against lotus claiming that the company had left him out of pocket – a claim that was settled out of court one month before trial in court.

Ares Performance

After his controversial sacking and lawsuit, Dany unveiled a new project – Ares Performance. It is a new type of automotive workshop designed to give car-lovers a unique, out of the ordinary and handcrafted car. This project is aimed at giving its clients’ cars a total makeover, changing the parts visible only to the requester. For example, the total inside and out makeover that leaves all the hard points intact: mechanical structure, suspension, electronic infrastructure, etc.

Stationed in Modena, Italy – a location well known to Bahar during his time at Ferrari – Bahar brings on board a number of personnel who played a crucial role in his earlier lotus plans: designers and a selection of managers. One of the designers, MihaiPanaitescu, who was helped engineer four out of the five lotus vehicles lotus proposals conceptualized during Bahar’s tenure as lotus’ CEO, has been assigned the task of re-imagining a number of sports and luxury cars at Ares.

Ares intends to work on a number of popular luxury cars: Range Rover, Aston Martin Rapide 5 and Vanquish, Range Rover Sport, and the Bently Continental GT. Ares also intends to expand and revamp the Lamborghini Huaracan, Rolls Royce Ghost, and Rolls Royce Wraith with a touch of its own style. Plans for transforming the body kits of these cars to carefully deliberate body styling are well underway – Bentley Continental GT and Aston Martin Rapide have already been proposed.

Wolf Zimmerman (an ex-Lotus and ex-AMG man) is also part of the team. He adds that, in addition to re-inventing cars, Ares intends to move into production of its own cars in the future. He asserts that the cars could mimic the style of a mid-engine supercar – made public in an Ares video. The company intends to first concentrate on markets in Russia, the Middle East, and China. Ares, however, have not yet unveiled the existence of a knowledgeable, triumphant associate in the U.S prepared to budge into the market in 2015.

Conclusion

Dany Bahar is an extremely ambitious individual. He had a humble beginning but elevated to the top of his career in a few years. Like many other individuals, over ambition got the best of him, leading to his dismissal from Group Lotus – due to misconduct. He sued Group Lotus and got an out of court settlement. This did not deter him from pursuing his dream. In 2014, he founded ARES, a company that personalised cars to individual preference without interfering with the car’s core characteristics. The company also has plans for producing its own fleet of cars in the future. Simply stated, Dany Bahar, has revolutionized the how motor companies conduct their business. Only time will tell if he will do the same for his newly found company, Ares?

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Dany Bahar is often identified as a product expert and product promotion genius; it is no shock that Ares is off to such an excellent beginning. Visit Dany Bahar