Renault announced on Sunday its chief executive Luca de Meo is leaving the French carmaker, coinciding with reports from local newspaper Le Figaro that the executive is taking over at embattled luxury firm, Kering.
“Luca de Meo has expressed his decision to step down in order to take on new challenges outside the automotive sector,” Renault said in a statement, without disclosing exact details surrounding the CEO’s next career move.
The Boulogne-Billancourt-headquartered carmaker said de Meo’s departure is effecive July 15.
According to Le Figaro, de Meo is set to become the new chief executive of French luxury group Kering, which owns Gucci, Yves Saint-Laurent, and Balenciaga, among other premium brands.
The move is said to be part of Kering’s current chief executive Francois-Henri Pinault‘s management reshuffle plan that would see the son of the Parisian group’s billionaire founder Francois Pinault stay on as chairman of the group.
Kering declined to comment on the de Meo appointment. If confirmed by the LVMH rival, the former Renault executive could inject new life into the heritage luxury goods company, after severl quarters of lacklustre sales.
In particular, Kering has been struggling to tournoquet haemorrhaging sales at its biggest fashion marque, Gucci, with the Italian label most affected by declines in its once-burgeoning Chinese market, and most recently, the U.S.
In its most recent trading update in April, Kering logged declines of 14% for the first-quarter, well below market estimates, with the firm hurt by a 25% drop in Gucci revenues on a worsening economic environment.
Total sales were down by 25% year-on-year in Asia and 13% in both Western Europe and North America.
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