Ashesh Dhar – From a humble Sales Officer to Head Tata PEV A saga of ‘grit and nerve’ – An Obituary

Ashesh Dhar, a promising young corporate Head ( Sales,Marketing & Customer Care) – Electric Vehicles at Tata Motors Ltd has passed away due to cardiac arrest  on Friday 24th July.

Ashesh Dhar, a 51 year old promising corporate professional was born on March 7, 1969 in a Kashmiri Pandit family of humble background.

An alumni of National High School, Srinagar and holder of a mechanical engineering degree from BITS Pilani, Ashesh Dhar started his career as a graduate engineer trainee at Bajaj Auto Ltd. Joining Bajaj Auto Ltd as Sales officer in July 1991 he rose to the position of Area Manager in March 1995 heading the two wheeler sales in Rajasthan till December 1997.

Serving Bajaj Auto Ltd for six years and six months, Ashesh Dhar shifted to TVS Motor Company as Area Manager in January 1998 and through his sheer efforts and dedication rose to the position of General Manager Sales in April 2005. As Head of sales for North Region comprising of dealership network of NCR, Haryana, Punjab, J&K, HP, Chandigarh, Rajasthan & Uttar Pradesh, Ashesh Dhar served TVS Motor Company till December 2009.

Ashesh Dhar joined as Vice president – operations at Mahindra First Choice wheels Ltd in January 2007. In his profile as VP he headed the Franchisee operations across India. Serving Mahindra for 4 years and 8 months, Ashesh Dhar joined Tata Motors in August 2011.

As Head – TMA Ashesh Dhar Headed the exchange & used cars business of Tata Motors for a brief period of three months to join as Head – Utility Vehicles & Tata Motors Assured.

Ashesh Dhar rose to become National Sales Head- South & East, India in August 2013. His success graph being on upward trend attributed to his vision and commitment made him Head (Sales Support) India.

In his present profile since July 2018 as Head (Sales, Marketing & Customer Care) – Electric Vehicles at Tata Motors Ltd, Ashesh Dhar undertook the challenge of introducing Passenger Electric Vehicles PEV in to the Indian market. In the recent past, he was instrumental in leading the OEM gaining a ‘better than expected’ market response for the Nexon EV, the OEM’s first EV positioned purely for personal use.

Ashesh Dhar is survived by his wife Meenakshi Dhar and two daughters Arni and Anvi. He is also survived by his mother Smt Rajni and his father Mr M K Dhar an eminent educationist who served as Principal, National High School, Srinagar.

The untimely and premature death of Ashesh Dhar has sent shock waves in friends and family considering Ashesh Dhar was a prolific and humble human being with feet firmly in ground. The saga of his corporate life from a humble Sales officer in 1991 to Head of EPV division at Tata Motors speaks volumes about his grit and nerve to hold him in corporate life and grow by leaps and bounds.

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