In the fishing industry, we call it a “nice catch”. The board of directors gave the green light in early January to the appointment of Luca de Meo as head of Renault. When will his arrival and the end of the interim ensured by the current financial director Clotilde Delbos? "In the coming days I hope," said Jean-Dominique Senard, president of Renault and of the alliance with Nissan, in Davos.
"We must first resolve the issue of the buyout of its non-compete clause, says an internal source. It negotiates hard with the Germans (Editor's note: from Volkswagen, Seat is a subsidiary of the German group) . But already the arrival of the 52-year-old Milanese, who passed through the prestigious Bocconi University in Milan, is eagerly awaited. "It is not expected like the messiah," we believe we have to clarify to Renault management. Messiahs, we had our dose ”, obviously referring to Carlos Ghosn
At the group's headquarters in Boulogne-Billancourt, it is nevertheless hoped that the entry into office of De Meo will make it possible to forget the Ghosn affair as quickly as possible, which in the coming months will move to the judicial field in France. The former boss, who claims to Renault a retirement indemnity of € 250,000 and a hat retirement of € 774,774 gross annually, could indeed answer before the court for 11 million personal expenses (private jets, reception costs …) Having passed through a Renault-Nissan subsidiary in Amsterdam.
Senard-de Meo, two complementary profiles
On the side of the employees of the automobile firm, behind the distrust of rigor, there is still a lot of hope on Ghosn's successor. "Emotionally, it's been a little roller coaster here for over a year, admits one of them. We want to turn the page and move on. Will the Senard-De Meo tandem allow us to? Hopefully. "
Industrial fiber on the one hand, marketing and sales on the other, on the side of Luca de Meo. "Clearly distributed roles, and above all two profiles that will radically contrast with Ghosn, but also Thierry Bolloré", observes a good connoisseur of the sector. As much as the two former leaders have left a more than mixed memory at Renault, as much as Jean-Dominique Senard took up his post as president, preceded by a reputation as a “social and sociable boss”, solidly built in the days of Michelin.
“Watch collector and padel lover”
It will be the same for Luca de Meo, if he in turn joins the headquarters of Boulogne-Billancourt. "In the automotive sector, we tend to meet tough bosses, not to say authoritarian," observes one of his former close associates. Luca de Meo is just the opposite. He practices firm, but measured management, knowing what he wants. "
At Seat's headquarters in Barcelona, we remember a leader "involved, watch collector and great padel lover", a racket sport derived from tennis, played on a small, enclosed court, very popular in countries Latin. "He is an extraordinary personality," enthuses another member of Seat management. He has lived in a good dozen countries, speaks five languages ( Editor's note: Italian, English, French, German and Spanish ) and is of insatiable curiosity. Luca de Meo, a fan of electronic music, likes to say that if he hadn't had a career in the automobile industry, he would have become… a DJ!
"It is true that he is out of place in the industry," confirms a senior manager who worked with him at the end of the 1990s at Toyota. But it is also what makes its strength. The Japanese spoke very little English at the time, and viewed Europe as a very secondary market. Luca de Meo knew how to maneuver very well in the midst of these difficulties. "
"Confidence and an unbounded optimism"
And this former collaborator remembers a dinner in 2000, in a famous Japanese restaurant in San Francisco, with several Toyota officials. On the menu: fugu, a fish so toxic that poorly prepared, it can lead to death. "De Meo was hilarious," recalls this former colleague. And then he took the first bite, to reassure the others. This is all that, an unbounded confidence and enthusiasm. "
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It will take personality, confidence and character to take up, alongside Senard, the challenges that await a business weakened by clan and chapel wars, between engineers from Mines, Polytechnics and graduates of the great business schools.
The connected, electric and autonomous car, or even the tightening of anti-pollution standards, will require tens of millions of euros of investment in the coming years. Strategic and technological orientations, such as the choice of partners, and of course the maintenance and good conduct of the Alliance with Nissan, will be decisive in this respect.
LANDMARKS
1967. Birth on June 13 in Milan.
1992. Joined the Italian subsidiary of Renault.
1998. Recruited by the European division of Toyota.
2002. Joined the Fiat group, where he was responsible for the Fiat, Lancia and Alfa Romeo brands. We owe him the successful launches of the Fiat Grande Punto and especially the new Fiat 500.
2007. Promoted to Fiat Marketing Director.
2009. Volskwagen Marketing Director.
2015. Takes the lead for Seat. To his credit, the recovery in sales of the Spanish subsidiary of the German group.
2019. On December 10, the Renault board of directors expresses its preference for the candidacy of Luca de Meo for the post of managing director to replace Thierry Bolloré who had been dismissed two months earlier.
2020. On January 7, Luca de Meo announces his resignation from Seat.
Few foreign CEOs at the head of French groups
The Italian Luca de Meo, likely future CEO of Renault, would not be the first foreigner to take the head of a French group: already his predecessor, Carlos Ghosn, of Lebanese-Brazilian origin, had conducted his higher education in the 'Hexagon but had only taken French nationality in 2005 when sitting in the boss's chair of the firm with a diamond. His former right-hand man, Carlos Tavares, now CEO of PSA, born in Lisbon, then came to France at the age of seventeen to start studying engineering, is himself of Portuguese nationality.
In 2018, the choice of the new CEO of Air France-KLM, the Canadian Ben Smith, caused a lively controversy. And for good reason, it is the first time that the tricolor company is piloted by a non-French.
Conversely, the choice of German Thomas Enders at the head of Airbus (from 2012 to 2019) was not surprising, since the organization of the European manufacturer provided for alternate Franco-German governance.
In terms of purely private groups, the Briton Lindsay Owen-Jones, the indestructible CEO of L'Oréal from 1988 to 2006, had been a pioneer. The circle of foreign leaders of French groups today includes the Spaniard Enrique Martinez (Fnac-Darty), the German Thomas Buberl (AXA) or the British Paul Hudson (Sanofi).
On the other hand, if nothing precludes a priori a foreign manager from taking the head of strategic public flagships like EDF or SNCF, such a designation would be politically delicate.
