After five years at the helm of Renault, Luca de Meo hands over the keys

After five years at the helm of the diamond brand, French-speaking Italian Luca de Meo will leave the general management of Renault and join, according to the press, the luxury giant Kering.

"After five years at the helm of Renault Group , Luca de Meo has announced his decision to step down," the group said in a statement, adding that his departure would be "effective July 15."

The CEO of the French car manufacturer will leave the group "in order to pursue new challenges outside the automotive sector," the company continued, confirming a report in the newspaper "Le Figaro" published a few minutes earlier.

According to the newspaper, the 58-year-old executive will take over as CEO of the luxury group Kering, whose majority shareholder and current CEO, François-Henri Pinault, has decided to reshuffle the management to retain only the presidency.

Two internal candidates have been identified to take the reins of Kering's executive leadership, the business magazine Challenges reported Thursday, citing Francesca Bellettini and Jean-Marc Duplaix, both deputy CEOs. An external lead is still possible, the magazine also stated.

Contacted by AFP, the luxury group said on Sunday that it would not comment on the information. Kering's sales, weighed down for several quarters by its flagship brand Gucci, continued to decline in the first quarter of 2025 (-14%) to €3.88 billion (CHF 3.63 billion) after a 62% drop in net profit and a 12% drop in revenue in 2024. Since January 1, Kering's share price has plunged by more than 26%.

An excellent communicator and marketing pro, Luca de Meo found, upon his arrival at the helm of Renault in 2020, a company traumatized by more than a year of crisis, in the wake of the affair of its former leader Carlos Ghosn, between falling sales and disheartened executives who slammed the door.

He has accelerated the electrification of the manufacturer, which also owns the Dacia, Alpine, and Lada brands, and its move upmarket in an attempt to pull the group out of its rut. According to the latest results published in April, the French company's revenue remained stable in the first quarter, at €11.7 billion (-0.3%), with an increase in sales of electric and hybrid cars.

"For five years, Luca de Meo has worked to put Renault Group back where it belongs. Under his leadership, our company has found a healthy foundation, today boasts a magnificent product range and has returned to growth," said Jean-Dominique Senard, Chairman of Renault's Board of Directors, quoted in the group's press release.

The son of an investment banker, Luca de Meo, who has lived in 12 countries, began his career at Renault. He then moved on to manage Fiat, where he successfully relaunched the small 500, before revitalizing Seat for the Volkswagen Group.

Luca de Meo's departure comes in the wake of a wave of departures within the alliance with Nissan: the group formalized in mid-April the departure of Jean-Dominique Senard from the board of directors of the Japanese group, in which Renault still holds 35% of the capital and 15% of the voting rights.

He is joined by Pierre Fleuriot, the diamond brand's representative on the group's board of directors. Nissan is currently facing significant challenges and has embarked on massive cuts in staff and production capacity.

Renault and its struggling Japanese partner will also further loosen their alliance, the scope of which had already been limited to 2023. The two manufacturers announced at the end of March that they had agreed to restructure their cross-shareholding: the two companies will be able to reduce their stake to 10% of each other's capital instead of the current 15%.