Renault top executive to pull Kering out of the doldrums

CEO Luca de Meo has resigned from his post at Renault to take charge of flagging luxury group Kering, where top executive François-Henri Pinault is stepping aside.

Surprise move

On Sunday, carmaker Renault announced that CEO Luca de Meo was stepping down on 15 July “to take on new challenges outside the car industry”. It soon became known that that challenge is in the fashion sector: the top executive is making the surprising move to Kering, the luxury group behind brands such as Gucci, Balenciaga and Yves Saint Laurent. Last week, French magazine Challenges reported that Kering top executive François-Henri Pinault was working on splitting his dual role as chairman and CEO and that the search for a CEO had already begun.

Kering is experiencing difficult times, mainly due to disappointing results for flagship brand Gucci. The economic slowdown in China is playing tricks on the company. The luxury group seems to be counting on top executive de Meo to be able to repeat the trick he previously performed at Renault: he took the car brand out of the red over the past five years and managed to double its stock market value.