(Bloomberg) – While corrected French car manufacturer Renault SA, CEO Luca de Meo chased a hobby that would feed in his next post as CEO of Kering SA: a taste for the finer things in life, especially Swiss watches. “Trademark management and marketing is his forts, which match what the luxury industry does -for which he looks passionate,” wrote Luca Solca, an analyst at Bernstein, in a note and reminded a conversation about a conversation about fine timing with De Meo at a Renault event. Now that De Meo has been named CEO of the French owner of Gucci and other luxury brands, it’s not difficult to suggest how interesting he found the jerking event, ‘Solca said. Although De Meo has no direct experience in fashion or consumer goods, after spending his entire career in the automotive industry, the luxury operating officers bet his zealous sense of what customers want and the attention to detail he shows at Renault is perhaps just what jerking needs. De Meo led the reversal of Renault after taking the lead about the French car manufacturer about five years ago, and returning it in profit and growth, despite significant challenges facing the global automotive industry, including an uncertain transition to electric vehicles, increasing trading tension and the rise of highly competitive Chinese competitors. Kering shares, which scored the biggest one-day jump since December 2008, dropped to 2.3% in the early trading in Paris. Renault, which tumbles 8.7% on Monday, has been changed. Kering, led by Francois-Henri Pinault For more than two decades, can use the help, as the luxury industry has a slump in Chinese demand and the threat of higher US rates. Prior to the jump on Monday, Kering’s share lost almost 80% of its value since reaching a record in August 2021, as it fell further behind opponents such as LVMH and Hermes International. The group tried to turn its most important brand Gucci to call by new designers, but efforts failed. Kering has also appointed new CEOs for labels, including Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, over the past year. “De Meo has a Titanic challenge in front of him,” Solca said. ‘Critically, investors will have to hear what it is that De Meo plans to do and digest how soon his plans can realize. If he says ‘more of the same’, investors would (quickly) go back to where we are now. When he comes in with a vision, it could be something else. ‘ The task ahead, in addition to the findings of Gucci, will have to win De Meo’s confidence of all the teams after seeking changes to top executives over the past few years, said Ariane Hayate, a fund manager at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management. He will also tackle the group’s increased debt, which has risen over the past three years, she said. Some investors are concerned that De Meo’s lack of experience in the luxury industry fails to address the absence of revenue growth in a difficult context in the industry, according to Zuzanna Pusz, an UBS analyst. “The concern is that the focus may be on cost cuts,” she said. What the executive is about for him is the fact that he is an Italian who has worked with French groups for years, Morgan Stanley analysts, including Edouard Aubin and Grace Smalley, noted. Kering’s Italian Gucci brand is almost two-thirds of its profits. De Meo also has a strong record as a turnaround driver and is very well considered in the automotive industry, ‘the analysts said. Renault was in a crisis when De Meo, who previously worked at Fiat and Volkswagen, took the lead in the middle of 2020. The French company had a record loss of the first half and announced plans to reduce nearly 15,000 jobs. Then, even after the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine urged the manufacturer to withdraw from the second largest market, Renault said its European opponents and its longtime Japanese alliance partner Nissan Motor Co. A great achievement for him that he brought back “color”, “energy and peak results, after years of sub-PAR product and finances”. ‘New things’ During his tenure, De Meo has a partnership for Renault with fashion brands such as Agnès B. A Polyglot – He is fluent in Italian, French, Spanish, English and German – De Meo wrote a book titled ‘A Dictionary for Car Lovers’, a dedication to the emotional attraction of brands. For example, one of the first big moves he made after taking over as CEO was to re-brand Renault’s Formula 1 team as Alpine, starting with the 2021 season. Alpine, a more than half a century old French market that Renault revived just a few years before after two decades of dormancy, could become a mini-ferrari, the CEO boasted in October 2020. He then built the scale and status of the brand. Although the alpine efforts have not yet had to show successfully in Formula 1, De Meo has impressed investors at the rate of the new model dancing of the company. Last year, Renault introduced ten new car models, including the Renault 5 – with accessories, including a reed basket as Baguette container. This year it starts seven, including the Electric Renault 4 and Alpine A390. De Meo’s approach became a case study for Harvard Business School. How critical he considered brand building was at the Geneva Motor Show last year. Although almost all of the world’s car manufacturers stayed away, he showed a thing of the past, De Meo and Renault showed up and won a lot of attention they may not have received for the launch of the new Renault 5 – a car of the past that Renault modernized and introduced as electrical for the future. It was Vintage de Meo and helped to make R5 one of the company’s most high-profile new launches in recent times. De Meo is someone who has a big brand insight, but who can also work together the teams with which he works together and have the courage to try new things, ‘said Fabrizio Ferraro, Professor of Strategic Management at the Iie’s Business School. It is crucial for chining because “the usual playbook of the luxury industry seems to have no more steam,” he said. (Updates with shares in the fifth paragraph.) More stories like these are available on Bloomberg.com © 2025 Bloomberg MP
Gucci -owner Kering Banks on De Meo’s record for a turnaround | Company Business News
