What does a mass-market carmaker have in common with a luxury goods provider? Investors may well be pondering that question as they digest news that Luca de Meo, lifetime car executive and architect of Renault’s nifty turnaround, has quit to lead Gucci parent company Kering.
In theory, there is little overlap between the two jobs. True, at the very top of the heap, businesses selling super-premium cars and buttery-soft handbags do seem to have converged — as evidenced by the high margins and high valuations of Ferrari and Hermès.
But the distance between Renault and Kering is much greater. While Renault has brushed up its product offering, the French carmaker’s turnaround was, in essence, about cost and capacity cuts. Luxury, meanwhile, is about growing sales — something that Kering’s ailing Gucci brand is failing to do.