Renault CEO Luca de Meo will step down on July 15, 2025, ending a five-year tenure that leaves behind unresolved questions about the automaker’s long-term direction and its uneasy alliance with Nissan. De Meo’s tenure was marked more by short-term recovery than by bold, transformative vision. His widely publicised restructuring of the Renault-Nissan alliance—reducing mutual shareholdings to 10%—was a retreat rather than a redefinition.

De Meo’s pivot to electric vehicles through the creation of Ampere and a partnership with China’s Geely may have positioned Renault for the EV shift, but these efforts remain unproven, with significant competitive and regulatory challenges ahead.

His sudden departure for French luxury group Kering S.A. raises further doubts about his long-term commitment to reshaping the auto industry, suggesting personal career ambitions may have taken precedence over completing Renault’s transformation.

The looming exits of Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard and lead director Pierre Fleuriot from Nissan’s board deepen uncertainty around the future of the alliance.

While Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa insists the partnership remains strong, many observers view the post-De Meo era as a critical juncture—one that could either cement a new balance or accelerate strategic drift between the once tightly bound automakers.