• Luxury car maker gears up for a busy year ahead
• Coachbuilder plans expansion of its state-of-the-art Modena headquarters
• Recruitment drive to take the workforce to 250 employees

Modena-based Italian coachbuilder ARES Design has announced its return to work after an eleven-week closure.

For the return to work the company, located in the Emilia-Romagna region, has implemented wide-ranging measures to ensure employers’ wellbeing. These include, among others, temperatures taken on arrival; the wearing of masks and gloves; limited personnel in communal areas; regular sanitisation of workspaces; highlighted routes and entry and exit points to the building.

Co-founder Dany Bahar commented: “We are obviously pleased to be back albeit in a slightly different environment, but still this is excellent news. We currently have 70% of the workforce on-site while others are still working remotely, but we hope to be back to a full complement of staff in the coming weeks.

“Our first focus is to consolidate and recoup our lost production. We are down about 30% of our annual productivity, but we will have recovered this by the end of August.”

The company also welcomed the news that it is about to secure its final round of funding; taking the luxury coachbuilder to a total 60 million Euros investment since its inception five years ago. ARES Design now plans to further invest in its facilities and hiring over the coming months.

Co-founder Waleed Al Ghafari explains: “In terms of what ARES Design does, creating and managing 4-5 projects in parallel, it must have bespoke facilities, with the best and most talented employees. Investing in both is key to our success and reflects our commitment to the business.

“We will continue to invest in the Modena facility, growing it from the current 23,000 sqm to 30,000 sqm over the coming year. We are also undertaking a keen recruitment drive across the whole company and will look to bolster our employee numbers from the current 150 to 250 over the next 12 months."

“Ultimately, the investment will create a platform for ARES Design to produce the more desirable, individually produced and technologically advanced product for our UHNWI audience and, generate greater returns for our valued investors.”

The next year will also be exciting in terms of new product and Bahar promises more than a handful of announcements over the coming months as ARES Design expands on its range of limited edition and coach-built vehicles.

Bahar also explained how the company will focus on growing markets and the increasing demand for uniqueness and individuality. “We are no longer a young company, this year we will also be more visible - our new products will allow us to do that - but we will also be looking towards new markets. America and China are the biggest untapped markets for us, and we have many plans to enter them and bring with us our unique style, Italian flair and coachbuilding mastery. All in all, a busy 12 months ahead.”

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