A source claims that De Meo, who stepped down from SEAT earlier this month, will not take up his post at Renault until closer to July. — Reuters
PARIS: Renault’s board is set to meet today to approve naming Luca de Meo, formerly the head of Volkswagen’s SEAT brand, as its next chief executive, Le Figaro newspaper reported on Monday.
Renault declined to comment. The board had not yet been called, according to a source close to the matter, who declined to be named as the timing is still confidential. But De Meo’s nomination is widely expected to take place any day now.
De Meo, who stepped down from SEAT earlier this month, will not take up his post at Renault until closer to July, the source added.
Italian-born De Meo had been hotly tipped for the job for several weeks but faced wrangles over his contract and a stringent non-compete clause, which had to be negotiated between Renault and Volkswagen, said sources previously.
The delay in his arrival comes at a delicate time for Renault, which is trying to reboot its alliance with Japan’s Nissan Motor Co Ltd after the partnership’s former boss, Carlos Ghosn, was arrested in Tokyo in 2018.
Ghosn, who has repeatedly denied the financial misconduct charges he was accused of, slipped out of Japan and fled to Lebanon at the end of 2019.
Renault’s board ousted its former CEO and longstanding Ghosn ally Thierry Bollore last October, as part of efforts to clean the decks and reset the alliance, and the job has been occupied in the interim by financial chief Clotilde Delbos.
