New CEO named to take over reins at Renault

PARIS: Following the selection process led by the Governance and Compensation Committee, the Board of Directors, under the chairmanship of Jean-Dominique Senard, the decision was made to appoint Luca de Meo as chief executive officer of Renault S.A., and chairman of Renault s.a.s. effective July 1.

The Board of Directors considered that de Meo, through his career, experience and success in his previous functions, combines all the qualities to contribute to all aspects of Groupe Renault’s development and transformation.

Clotilde Delbos, interim chief executive officer of Renault S.A. will continue in her current role until de Meo takes office.

She will then take the position of deputy chief executive officer of Renault S.A., effective July 1.

“I am delighted with this new governance, which marks a decisive step for the Group and for the Alliance. Luca de Meo is a great strategist and visionary of a rapidly changing automotive world. His expertise but also his passion for cars make him a real asset for the Group," said Senard.

He added that Delbos is committed and determined to provide all her services to Renault and with a new duo at the helm of the company, they will form a high-quality, multi-talented team that's equal to Renault's ambitions.

de Meo was born in Milan, Italy in 1967 and later graduated in business administration at Luigi Bocconi Commercial University - also in Milan.

The new CEO was Luca began his career at Renault before joining Toyota Europe, then the Fiat Group where he managed the Lancia, Fiat and Alfa Romeo brands and has garnered more than 20 years of experience in the automotive sector.

Luca de Meo joined the Volkswagen Group in 2009 as marketing director, both for passenger cars of the Volkswagen brand and for the Volkswagen Group. He then held the position of member of the Board of Directors in charge of sales and marketing at Audi AG in 2012.

He was chairman of the executive committee of Seat from Nov 1, 2015 until January 2020 and was also a member of the Supervisory Boards at Ducati and Lamborghini, as well as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Volkswagen Group in Italy.

As for Clotilde Delbos, the 57-year-old who graduated from EM Lyon, began her career in California before moving to Price Waterhouse in Paris and then on to the Pechiney Group in 1992 where she held various positions before becoming Division Financial Director.

After Pechiney’s acquisition by Alcan, Delbos served as Vice President & Business Finance Director of the Engineered Products Division from 2005 up until it was sold in 2011.

Delbos then joined Groupe Renault in 2012 as Group Controller and on May 1, 2014, she was appointed Alliance Global Director, Control.

It was on April 25, 2016, that she was appointed Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer of Groupe Renault as well as Chairman of the Board of Directors of RCI Banque and is also a member of the Groupe Renault Executive Committee.

On October 11, 2019, she was appointed CEO of Renault for an interim period and remains Chief Financial Officer of Groupe Renault and Chairman of the Board of Directors of RCI Banque.