Luca de Meo, the current CEO who had just announced that he would lead Renault Group "back to the top", chose to "retire" at the end of his five-year term.
Renault Group issued a statement on June 15 saying that its CEO Luca de Meo will leave on July 15. Renault Group said its board of directors has initiated the appointment process for a new CEO but did not provide further details.
Italian executive Luca De Meo, 58, will succeed French billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault as CEO of Kering, according to Le Figaro newspaper.
Luca de Meo
During his five-year tenure, Luca De Meo has always prided himself on accomplishing what many considered impossible.
When he took office at Renault Group in July 2020, the company reported a loss of 7.3 billion euros in the first half of 2020, creating Renault's largest annual loss in history with a net loss of 8 billion euros that year. At the beginning of 2020, Carlos Ghosn, the head of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance before him, fled back to Lebanon from his heavily monitored residence in Tokyo, Japan in the style of a 007 movie.
Luca de Meo said in an interview that his first priority was to overhaul the future product line of the Renault Group. In a six-week blitzkrieg, he decisively stopped production of several old models and accelerated the development of the retro-style pure electric small car Renault 5.
Under his leadership, Renault Group turned losses into profits in 2021; in 2024, Renault Group achieved a record operating profit of 4.3 billion euros, becoming one of the few global automakers to exceed expectations, with an operating profit margin of 7.6%, accurately achieving the annual minimum target (≥7.5%).
Interestingly, Renault's four-year journey from the bottom to the top was fully recorded by a French documentary company and made into a documentary called "Back to the Top", which was launched on March 28.
However, his tenure has seen the Renault-Nissan alliance grow increasingly estranged, with the core issue still unresolved. Renault once owned 44% of Nissan, but the value of its stake has shrunk significantly due to Nissan's continued losses, and Renault is now gradually reducing its stake in Nissan through a trust fund.