Luca de Meo
"There are two things that Europe needs to focus on in our industry: electrification of the powertrain and software-defined vehicles."
— Luca de Meo[1]
Overview
Luca de Meo | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 13 June 1967 Milan, Italy |
| Citizenship | Italian, French |
| Education | Business administration |
| Alma mater | Università Bocconi |
| Occupation | Business executive |
| Employer | Kering |
| Known for | Turnaround leadership at SEAT, Renault and Kering |
| Title | Chief Executive Officer of Kering |
| Term | 2025–present |
| Predecessor | François-Henri Pinault |
| Board member of | Telecom Italia; Ducati; Lamborghini; Volkswagen Group Spain |
| Spouse | Silvia Goracci |
| Children | 2 sons |
| Awards | Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic; Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic; Cavaliere al Merito del Lavoro; Légion d'honneur (Chevalier) |
🌍 Luca de Meo (born 13 June 1967) is an Italian-born business executive who has led major European industrial and luxury groups. After three decades in the automotive sector with Renault, Toyota Motor Europe, Fiat, the Volkswagen Group and SEAT, he became chief executive officer (CEO) of Renault Group in 2020, where he launched the “Renaulution” restructuring programme. In June 2025 he was appointed CEO of luxury conglomerate Kering, becoming the first non-French national to lead the group and one of the few senior executives to move from volume carmaking into high fashion.[3][4][5]
🔄 Turnaround reputation and cross-industry leap. De Meo built a reputation as a turnaround specialist by helping to revive brands such as the Fiat 500, SEAT and Renault, often by combining tight cost control with design-led, marketing-driven repositioning. He is widely credited with the relaunch of the modern Fiat 500 and with leading SEAT to record sales before being recruited to steer Renault out of crisis after the Carlos Ghosn era.[6][7] His move in 2025 from Renault to Kering, whose portfolio includes Gucci, Saint Laurent and Balenciaga, was seen by commentators as a highly unusual cross-industry jump and a major gamble both for the executive and for the luxury group.[8][9]
Early life and education
🧭 Cosmopolitan upbringing. De Meo was born in Milan in 1967 to a family with banking roots; his father worked as a business banker.[3] His childhood was spent across a dozen countries, including periods in Brazil, Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria, giving him early exposure to diverse cultures and school systems. He attended French schools in several postings and grew up fluent in Italian, English, French, German and Spanish, a linguistic versatility that later facilitated his work across European corporate environments.[3][9]
🎓 Bocconi training and early interests. Passionate about cars from an early age, de Meo later recalled that one of his first childhood drawings was the outline of a Fiat 500, a symbol of the Italian car culture that fascinated him.[3] He studied business administration at Milan’s Università Bocconi, writing a thesis on business ethics and graduating in the late 1980s, before being named Bocconi “Alumnus of the Year” in 2017 for his subsequent corporate achievements.[5][7]
🦎 Self-described “chameleon”. Reflecting on a peripatetic upbringing, de Meo has described himself as a “chameleon”, capable of integrating quickly into new cultures and reading the expectations of different stakeholders. In an interview with Bocconi quoted by Portuguese business magazine Must, he highlighted three strengths: the ability to adapt to multiple cultural contexts, a preference for simplifying complex organisations and a habit of approaching problems from unconventional angles.[9] These traits, he argued, shaped the leadership style he later applied in the automotive and luxury sectors.
Automotive career
🚗 Early roles at Renault, Toyota and Fiat. De Meo began his professional career at Renault in 1992, working in Italian and French operations in marketing and product roles.[5] He subsequently joined Toyota Motor Europe, focusing on product planning and commercial coordination, before returning to Italy in the early 2000s to take on responsibilities within the Fiat Group. At Fiat he headed the Lancia brand, later becoming CEO of Fiat Automobiles, CEO of Alfa Romeo and chief marketing officer of the wider group, positions that placed him at the centre of efforts to modernise the Italian carmaker.[7]
🚙 Fiat 500 relaunch and brand work. During his tenure in Turin, de Meo oversaw the development and relaunch of the modern Fiat 500, a retro-styled city car that became a bestseller and was widely credited with revitalising Fiat’s image at a time when the company was emerging from crisis.[6][9] He also relaunched the Abarth performance label as a standalone brand, using limited editions and motorsport-inspired marketing to re-establish its sporting identity.[7]
🛞 Volkswagen Group and SEAT. In 2009 de Meo joined the Volkswagen Group as marketing director for the Volkswagen passenger-car brand and later for the group as a whole, before being appointed to the management board of Audi with responsibility for sales and marketing.[7] From 2015 he served as president of SEAT and its performance offshoot Cupra, leading a range expansion into sport utility vehicles and new markets. Under his leadership SEAT returned to profitability and posted record sales, a turnaround he attributed less to dramatic product changes than to shifting internal “mentalities” in what had been a demoralised organisation.[3][7]
🧩 Supervisory and industry roles. While at Volkswagen Group, de Meo chaired the board of Volkswagen Group Spain and sat on the supervisory boards of Ducati and Lamborghini, extending his remit into motorcycles and high-performance sports cars.[7] These positions, combined with his later presidency of the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) from 2023 to 2024, reinforced his profile as a pan-European industry figure engaged with strategy and regulation beyond a single corporate employer.[4][10]
Renault Group
🛠 Appointment in the post-Ghosn era. On 28 January 2020 Renault announced de Meo’s appointment as CEO, effective 1 July, describing him as a “strategist” with a strong track record at SEAT and Fiat.[3] He became the first foreign national to head the French automaker, taking over after a period of turmoil linked to the arrest and departure of Carlos Ghosn and amid strained relations with alliance partner Nissan.[3][8] At the time Renault was loss-making and dealing with a sharp drop in sales, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and a slump in its share price.[8]
📊 “Renaulution” strategy and brand reorganisation. Shortly after taking office, de Meo announced a restructuring that reorganised Renault around four business units – Renault, Dacia, Alpine and “new mobilities” – rather than geographic regions, and signalled a shift away from a volume-driven strategy towards higher margins and more upmarket products.[6] The multi-year “Renaulution” plan combined deep cost-cutting and capacity reductions with a refreshed product line-up, including plans to revive the Renault 5 as an electric model and to position Alpine as the group’s performance and motorsport marque.[6][9]
💶 Financial turnaround and share performance. Between 2020 and mid-2025, Renault’s financial results improved markedly: the company moved from record losses to one of the sector’s strongest operating margins, and was among the few European carmakers not to issue a profit warning during the 2024–2025 downturn.[8][11] Over roughly five years, Renault’s share price rose by about 90%, significantly outperforming rivals such as Stellantis and Volkswagen during the same period, a performance widely associated with de Meo’s restructuring programme.[8]
🔋 Alliance reshaping and creation of Ampere. De Meo also led a renegotiation of Renault’s long-standing alliance with Nissan, simplifying cross-shareholdings and seeking to reduce political tensions that had flared under Ghosn.[8] Internally, he pushed for a clearer separation between legacy combustion-engine operations and electric-vehicle development, culminating in the creation of Ampere, a dedicated Renault subsidiary for zero-emission and software-defined vehicles, which he headed concurrently from late 2023 to early 2025.[4]
🏁 ACEA presidency and industry influence. As CEO of Renault Group, de Meo served as president of ACEA in 2023–2024, representing European carmakers in discussions with EU policymakers on climate, trade and industrial policy.[4][10] In speeches and open letters he argued that while decarbonisation was essential, European manufacturers risked being placed at a competitive disadvantage compared with US and Chinese rivals benefitting from generous subsidies, calling for a more coordinated industrial strategy and openness to technologies such as e-fuels and hydrogen alongside battery-electric vehicles.[12][10]
Move to Kering
👜 Announcement of departure and market reaction. On 16 June 2025 Renault announced that de Meo would step down in mid-July to pursue a role outside the automotive sector, after media reports that he was set to become CEO of Kering, the luxury group behind Gucci, Saint Laurent and Balenciaga.[8] The news triggered a sharp market reaction: Renault’s shares fell by close to 9%, while Kering’s share price rose by around 12% as investors welcomed the prospect of a seasoned turnaround specialist taking over the struggling luxury conglomerate.[8][9]
📈 Appointment as Kering chief executive. Kering’s board, chaired by François-Henri Pinault, formally approved de Meo’s appointment as CEO in June 2025, as part of a governance reform that separated the roles of chairman and chief executive.[4] Following shareholder approval in September, de Meo joined Kering’s board and took office as CEO on 15 September 2025, while Pinault remained non-executive chairman.[4] The company framed the leadership change as a “decisive step” intended to usher in a new phase of development after several years of slowing growth and repeated profit warnings linked mainly to Gucci.[4][8]
🧮 Remuneration package and incentives. Regulatory filings released in July 2025 showed that Kering had offered de Meo a sign-on bonus of about €20 million to compensate for incentives he forfeited by leaving Renault, alongside a fixed annual salary of €2.2 million and a potential variable bonus of up to €6.6 million tied to performance criteria.[13] In addition, the board proposed granting him performance shares worth up to 150% of his combined fixed and variable pay, linking his long-term remuneration to Kering’s share performance and strategic objectives.[13]
🏛 “ReconKering” and strategic reset. Soon after taking office, de Meo circulated an internal memo dubbed “ReconKering”, outlining a multi-year plan to restore the group to “top financial performance”. According to reporting on the memo, he set an 18-month target to return all brands to growth and a three-year horizon for a full recovery of profitability, emphasising downsizing of underperforming retail space, tighter cost control and a rebalancing of profits away from an over-reliance on Gucci.[14] He also moved swiftly to adjust leadership at Gucci and other houses, signalling that he would not hesitate to make “tough decisions” on store networks, pricing and brand positioning to restore desirability.[14]
🌌 “House of Dreams” investment arm. A notable element of de Meo’s strategy at Kering is the planned creation of “House of Dreams”, a venture-style unit designed to invest in or partner with emerging luxury brands and innovative businesses in areas such as experiential retail technology, Indian craftsmanship and culture-led Chinese luxury.[14] The unit, initially launched on a pilot basis with dedicated capital, is intended both to diversify Kering’s revenue streams beyond its established houses and to mirror the kind of innovation-focused entities de Meo had championed in the auto industry, such as Renault’s Mobilize division.[14][9]
Other roles and board memberships
📡 Telecoms and industry bodies. Beyond his executive positions, de Meo has held several non-executive roles. He sat on the board of directors of Telecom Italia (TIM) between 2021 and 2022, giving him exposure to the telecommunications and digital infrastructure sectors.[4] Within ACEA he served as president while still leading Renault, using the position to advocate for a more coordinated European industrial strategy for mobility and for a pragmatic approach to emissions regulation.[10][12]
🏎 Supervisory boards and honorary distinctions. During his years at Volkswagen Group he served on the supervisory boards of Ducati and Lamborghini and chaired Volkswagen Group’s Spanish operations, roles that reinforced his association with performance and prestige brands.[7] Over his career he has been recognised with several honours, including the rank of Commendatore in the Italian Order of Merit, the Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic awarded by Spain’s government in 2021, the Italian title of Cavaliere al Merito del Lavoro in 2022 and the French Légion d'honneur in 2023.[7][15]
Personal life
🏠 Family and citizenship. De Meo was born Italian and later acquired French citizenship, reflecting his long professional involvement in French industry and residency in the country.[9] He is married to Silvia Goracci, with whom he has two sons, and the family is based in the Paris region. Colleagues and profiles typically describe him as discreet and reserved in his private life, in contrast to the public visibility of the brands he leads.[9]
⌚ Interests and public persona. Outside work, de Meo is known for a strong interest in design and precision objects, particularly Swiss watches, and remains an avid car enthusiast; he co-authored a “dictionary for lovers of the automobile”, reflecting a long-standing romantic attachment to car culture.[9][11] He is portrayed as a voracious reader who draws analogies from cinema and history, once likening himself to Woody Allen’s character Zelig as a way of describing his adaptive, chameleon-like personality. Fluent in multiple languages, he frequently gives interviews in Italian, French or English and has been described as approachable yet demanding in his dealings with staff.[9][7]
Views and advocacy
🌱 Climate policy and industrial strategy. As ACEA president and Renault CEO, de Meo argued that global climate goals required coordinated action across value chains but also warned that European automakers faced a structural disadvantage compared with competitors in the United States and China who benefited from large subsidies and tax incentives.[12][10] In an open letter published ahead of the 2024 European Parliament elections he urged EU leaders to develop a comprehensive industrial strategy centred on the automotive sector, calling for streamlined regulation, support for small affordable vehicles and openness to alternative technologies such as e-fuels and hydrogen alongside battery-electric cars.[12]
🤝 Cooperation and “team sport” rhetoric. De Meo has repeatedly framed the decarbonisation of transport as a “team sport” requiring cooperation between governments, energy providers, infrastructure operators and manufacturers, stressing that automakers alone cannot shoulder the investment burden associated with the transition.[10] He has also advocated stronger European collaboration on software, vehicle-to-infrastructure standards and supply chains, drawing analogies with joint projects such as Airbus in arguing that scale and shared technology are essential for Europe to remain competitive in the global mobility and luxury markets.[12][10]
Controversies and challenges
⚖️ Debate over Renault strategy and volumes. While Renault’s profitability improved significantly under de Meo, some analysts and commentators questioned the sustainability of a strategy based on higher prices and reduced volumes. A July 2025 column in Le Monde noted that Renault was selling no more cars than around the year 2000, with key factories running well below capacity and a product mix skewed towards higher-priced models, raising concerns that the company risked eroding its customer base and building up inventory.[11] The same analysis argued that ambitious bets on projects such as Alpine’s relaunch, the creation of Ampere and a complex international footprint left Renault exposed to execution risks that would outlast de Meo’s tenure.[11]
🚪 Criticism of his departure from Renault. De Meo’s surprise decision to leave Renault for Kering prompted criticism in some quarters, particularly in France, where commentators and union representatives accused him of abandoning an unfinished turnaround and leaving unresolved issues in electric vehicles and motorsport programmes.[8][11] He rejected the suggestion that he was “fleeing” the company, describing his move as a personal decision taken once he believed Renault was well positioned for its next chapter, but the episode fuelled debate about executive loyalty and the impact of abrupt leadership changes on long-term industrial strategy.[11][9]
🧵 Scepticism in the fashion world. In the luxury sector, some industry observers have questioned whether a “car guy” without a fashion background can master the creative and cultural subtleties needed to revive brands such as Gucci and Balenciaga.[9] Others, including fashion and business commentators, have noted that de Meo’s track record in branding, design-led product revivals and disciplined operations could prove an asset if he successfully translates automotive lessons into the language of high fashion.[9][14] His early moves at Kering, including changes in Gucci’s leadership and the proposed “House of Dreams” unit, are widely seen as tests of whether that cross-sectoral approach can work.
Legacy and assessment
🏁 Assessment as a corporate “chameleon”. Commentators often portray de Meo as a corporate “chameleon” who built a career on reviving troubled brands, moving fluidly between national cultures and, later, between industries.[3][9] From a Milanese child sketching the outline of a Fiat 500 to a multilingual executive tasked with reshaping Kering’s portfolio beyond Gucci, his trajectory has been framed as an experiment in whether turnaround skills and marketing acumen can bridge the gap between mass-market mobility and luxury fashion. Supporters regard him as a disciplined brand-builder with a strong feel for product and positioning, while critics caution that the scale of the gamble at Kering means his ultimate legacy will depend on whether he can translate automotive success into a lasting renaissance in high-end couture.[8][14][11]
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References
- ↑ "Automotive, tech, and power sector CEOs agree: building a European electric vehicle ecosystem is a team sport". ACEA.
- ↑ "Show me the BEV Money, Says Renault Boss". WardsAuto.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 "Renault names ex-Seat chief De Meo as CEO for post-Ghosn era". TechXplore / AFP. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 "Kering announces the appointment of Luca de Meo as Chief Executive Officer". Kering. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Renault Group 2020 Universal Registration Document". Renault Group. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Renault revamps brand set-up under new CEO De Meo". Reuters. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 "Luca de Meo – Executive biography". Executive Manager. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 "Renault boss De Meo quits; report says he will head Gucci-owner Kering". Reuters. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ 9.00 9.01 9.02 9.03 9.04 9.05 9.06 9.07 9.08 9.09 9.10 9.11 9.12 9.13 9.14 "Dos carros para a moda: Quem é Luca de Meo?". Must / Jornal de Negócios. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 "Climate change: a planetary problem that requires a global perspective, de Meo". ACEA. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 "'As Luca de Meo abandons ship, Renault's future remains highly uncertain'". Le Monde. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 "Renault CEO's Letter To Europe: Support Auto Industry, Explore E-Fuels And Hydrogen". Carscoops. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Kering to pay new CEO Luca de Meo signing-on bonus of around 20 million euros as he leaves Renault". The Economic Times / Reuters. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 "Kering CEO plans 'House of Dreams' investment arm to help trim reliance on Gucci". Reuters. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ "Pedro Sánchez awards Luca de Meo, Global CEO of Renault Group, with Grand Cross of Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic". Government of Spain. Retrieved 2025-11-20.