Below are some facts about the potential new head of the French luxury group, whose brands include Gucci, Saint Laurent, and Bottega Veneta.
Who is he?
De Meo, 58, is from Milan, Italy, and has more than 30 years’ experience working in the automotive sector.
He graduated from the Luigi Bocconi Commercial University with a degree in business administration.
De Meo has been praised by commentators for his strategic vision and ability to revive struggling brands. He decided to step down from Renault to take on new challenges outside the automotive sector.
Career
De Meo began his career at Renault in the early 1990s, before moving to Toyota Europe in the late 1990s. In 2002, he joined the Fiat Group, where he held leadership roles across several brands including Lancia, Fiat, Abarth and Alfa Romeo. He played a key role in the relaunch of the Fiat 500 city car and the revival of the Abarth brand.
In 2009, he moved to the Volkswagen Group as marketing director, a role that covered both the Volkswagen brand and the group as a whole.
In 2012, he was appointed to the board of Volkswagen’s premium brand Audi AG, responsible for sales and marketing.
From November 2015 to January 2020, he served as chairman of Volkswagen’s Spanish unit SEAT, overseeing a resurgence in the Barcelona-based company’s sales and boosting its prominence within the Volkswagen group. He also sat on the supervisory boards of Ducati and Lamborghini, and chaired the board of Volkswagen Group Spain.
In July 2020, he became CEO of Renault S.A., later also taking on the role of chairman and joining the company’s board. He turned around the French automaker in his five years at the helm, overhauling its two-decade-long strategic alliance with Nissan and doubling down on hybrid motors while shifting towards electric vehicles.
Between November 2023 and March 2025, he was CEO of Ampere, Renault’s electric vehicle and software unit.
He has also served as President of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) since January 2023.
What’s the challenge?
De Meo would take the helm of Kering at a time when the group’s underwhelming performance of recent years has cast doubt on the effectiveness of its current strategy and leadership.
His appointment, if confirmed, would mark a change of direction. Kering shares have lost more than 60% of their value in the last two years, marked by a string of profit warnings and designer changes at Gucci, a former cash cow for the company and still its most important brand by sales and profits. The group has lately failed to convince stock market investors of its plans to turn Gucci around. (Reporting by Anna Peverieri and Mateusz Rabiega in Gdansk, editing by Matt Scuffham and Jan Harvey)
