8. Luca de Meo

Luca de Meo was born in Milan in 1967 to parents originating from Locorotondo. He received a degree in Business Administration from Bocconi University in Milan. In his thesis, he examined business ethics and it was the first dissertation on this subject in Italy.

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Luca de Meo has more than twenty-five years of experience in the automotive sector. He began his career at Renault, prior to joining Toyota Europe, followed by the Fiat Group, where he was head of the Lancia, Fiat and Alfa Romeo brands and CEO of Abarth. During his time as Fiat, he was considered a protégé of Sergio Marchionne, carrying a significant responsibility for the launch of the new Fiat 500, however, Marchionne was disappointed at his results while he was leading Alfa Romeo.

De Meo joined the Volkswagen Group in 2009, as marketing director of the brand of Volkswagen and of the Volkswagen Group, prior to taking up the position of the board of management member for sales and marketing at Audi AG. He was president of SEAT from November 2015 to January 2020. In January 2020 it was announced that he would be the CEO of Renault effective July 2020, leaving Renault without a CEO for another five months due to a non-compete clause with Volkswagen Group.

Since July 1, 2020, Luca de Meo is Chief Executive Officer of Renault S.A. and Chairman of Renault s.a.s. On January 1, 2021, he is also CEO, Renault Brand. He is a member of the Renault Group’s Board of Management. Since April 1, 2021, Luca de Meo is a member of the Board of Directors of TIM (Telecom Italia).

Luca de Meo speaks five languages (Italian, English, French, German and Spanish), was a teaching fellow at SDA Bocconi School of Management, and is the author of the book 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 last generation).

In January 2021, de Meo presented “Renaulution”, the new strategic plan for Groupe Renault, which aims to shift the strategy from volume to value.

Luca de Meo is married to Silvia Goracci and has two sons.