Luca de Meo (born 13 June 1967) is an Italian automotive executive who is the former CEO ofRenault Group.[5][6][7] On June 15, 2025, it was announced that he will leave Renault to take over the leadership of theKering group.[8][9]
Born inMilan in 1967 to parents originating from thePuglia region,[10][11][12] de Meo received a degree in Business Administration fromBocconi University in Milan. In his thesis he examined business ethics, which was one of the first dissertations on this subject in Italy.[13] De Meo developed a passion for cars at the age of seven. He was intrigued by the Italian pilot Arnaldo Cavallari, who took de Meo for a ride in hisLancia Fulvia HF.[14][10]
De Meo has more than thirty years of experience in the automotive sector. He began his career at Renault, from 1992 to 1998, in Italy then France,[15] prior to joining Toyota Europe.[11]
In 2002, de Meo joined theFiat Group, where he was Head of Business Units of the brandLancia,[16] before he was appointed bySergio Marchionne as CEO of Fiat Automobiles and later ofAlfa Romeo. He also served as Chief Marketing Officer of Fiat Group from 2007 to 2009.[10] He was also the CEO ofAbarth.[17] During his time at Fiat, de Meo led the Fiat 500 project and revived the Abarth brand.[18][19]
The re-launch of Fiat 500 in 2007 is usually attributed to him. The success of its revival also tends to be accredited to de Meo. The model is considered to be the one that 'saved' Fiat.[20][21] In 2022, the model produced in 2007 recorded more than 3 million vehicles sold.[22]
De Meo joined theVolkswagen Group in 2009,[23] as Marketing Director of the Volkswagen brand and of the Volkswagen Group, prior to taking up the position of board of management member for sales and marketing at Audi AG. He was a member of the Supervisory Boards of Ducati and Lamborghini as well as Chairman of the Board of the Volkswagen Group in Italy and Spain.[15][24]
De Meo was president ofSEAT S.A. (including SEAT &Cupra) from November 2015 to January 2020.[25] De Meo spent four years developing Volkswagen's brand, to make it reach a high operating profit in 2017.[26] That year, SEAT increased its operating profit by 24.8% and delivered 468,400 cars. In 2018, that growth was sustained and further increased by 23.1%.[26][27] He also expanded the brand in Latin America.[28] In 2019, SEAT registered its 'historical' sales record, with over 574,000 sold cars.[29] 2019 was also the year when de Meo introduced the new Leon.[27]
Under his presidency, the brand entered the SUV category, with the models Ateca, Arona and Tarraco.[30] He also launched the Cupra brand, with the first model being a sports SUV: the Cupra Formentor.[31] Cupra is the brand that helped SEAT return to profitability.[32][33][34]
In January 2020, it was announced that de Meo would be the CEO of Renault Group effective July 2020.[35][36] In 2020, he entrusted the brand Dacia, whose positioning he aspired to readjust, to Denis le Vot.[37][38] In January 2021, de Meo presented "Renaulution", the new strategic plan for Renault Group articulated in three phases: Resurrection, Renovation and Revolution.[39][40] The plan seeks to develop Renault's brands and their vehicles[41][42] and make an electric transition.[43][44] In 2022, it was announced that Renault Group started to witness a financial improvement and de Meo managed to turn around the company in 18 months.[45] Accordingly, better financial results for 2021 were released, they included a 6% increase in revenues and a net profit approaching one billion (€967 million).[46] In November 2022, on the occasion of Renault Group's "Capital Market Day",[47] he announced a reorganization of the Group into five divisions, includingAmpere, a subsidiairy dedicated to electric cars.[48][49][50]
In January 2022, de Meo officially announced the construction of the future electric SUV at the Alpine factory in Dieppe.[51][52] De Meo intends to occupy the high-segment with this brand,[53] relaunched as part of the second version of the Renaulution plan.[54] In January 2023, de Meo completed the first phase of his "Renaulution" program in less than two years.[55] In 2023, de Meo's strategy was bringing about results as Renault's operating margin increased to 5.6% for the past year, compared to only 2.8% in 2021.[56] When he first joined Renault Group, the company was losing €8 billion.[57][58] Two and a half years later, de Meo managed to make the Group witness a financial recovery.[57]
De Meo aims at making Renault become a 100% electric brand by 2030 in Europe.[59][60] Overall, Renault Group, led by de Meo, seeks to become carbon-neutral in Europe by 2040 and worldwide by 2050.[61] In February 2023, he introduced a plan for the production of Renault electric vehicles in France.[62] In 2023, he unveiled the new Formula 1 single-seater Alpine in London.[63] That same year, it was announced that Alpine is currently in talks withAutoNation, a US distributor.[64] In the sports segment, Alpine grew by 33% in 2022.[65][66]
In June 2025, De Meo left his position as CEO of Renault Group.[7]Le Figaro reported that he would become CEO ofKering.[6]
De Meo is a multilingual;[11] he speaks Italian, English, French,[36] German,[68] and Spanish. He is a teaching fellow at SDA Bocconi School of Management,[69] of which he is also Alumnus of the Year in 2017.[70]
De Meo was a member of the Supervisory Board ofDucati andLamborghini from 2015 to 2020.[71] He was an Independent Member of the Board of Directors ofGruppo TIM until 2022.[72] In December 2022, de Meo was elected to chair theEuropean Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) in 2023,[24] succeeding the President of BMW Group, Oliver Zipse.[73] As the president of ACEA, de Meo asserted the need for measures that would support the association's aim of decarbonization to be able to defy the 'growing global competition'.[74] He also addressed the industry's devotion to supporting e-mobility and guaranteeing value creation and jobs, particularly in Europe.[74]
As the president of ACEA, de Meo emphasized the deindustrialization and relocation of the automotive industry.[75] In January 2023, in an open letter, he expressed theautomotive industry's urgent need for an ambitious and structured automotive industrial policy by the EU to compete with other regions in the world.[76] De Meo also highlighted the importance of developing European electric vehicles. Accordingly, he called for the necessity of regional European support in terms of measures to maintain the competitive nature of the European automotive industry.[76]
In July 2015,[77][78] de Meo was named "commendatore" by theOrder of Merit of the Italian Republic, andHarvard University dedicated a case study to him in 2013, for his work in the Volkswagen Group as Marketing Director.[79] In 2017, he was named Bocconi Alumnus of the Year, for representing the university values of professionalism, initiative, integrity, responsibility and openness to pluralism.[13] His competences in leadership are said to be in marketing, product planning, having attention to detail and avoiding conflict, while he lacks an engineering background.[80][68] His personality has been described as collegial, humorous and culturally adaptive.[68]
In November 2019, de Meo was provided the "Entrepreneur of the Year Medal of Honour" by the Catalan Employers.[81] In March 2021,King Felipe VI of Spain awarded him with theGrand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic.[82] In 2022, he was appointed as Cavaliere del Lavoro by a presidential decree in Italy.[83] In December 2022, de Meo received the Chevalier (Knight) rank of the French Legion of honor.[84]
De Meo, Luca (2010). "Da 0 a 500. Storie vissute, idee e consigli da uno dei manager più dinamici della nuova generazione". [From 0 to 500: Lived Stories, Ideas and Advice from One of the Most Dynamic Managers of the New Generation. Marsilio.[85]
De Meo, Luca (2024). Dictionnaire amoureux de l'automobile [Dictionary of Automotive Love]. Place des éditeurs.[86]
Media related toLuca de Meo at Wikimedia Commons
