Not often do you find yourself, twice in a few months, talking at length and one-to-one with a man as serially busy as Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo. This is a man with no spare time at all, someone who powwows with the French prime minister and leaders of Europe. His diary fills at a year's notice.
Yet the reason for this meeting is special. We are seeking time with de Meo to offer him our magazine's highest accolade, the 2024 Issigonis Trophy, largely on the strength of the series of dazzling achievements he listed in our previous interview (Autocar, 23 October 2023): record profits in his company's 126-year history, posted less than three years after sustaining ruinous losses running at €140 million a day.
It has been one of the greatest recoveries in corporate history, not just automotive, accompanied by an expanding and highly credible brand and model strategy topped by the traffic-stopping launch of a brand-new Renault 5 electric supermini later this year. Demand for the car is already surging, six months ahead of delivery.
Despite all this, the portents of our latest meeting aren't good. De Meo has spent most of his day at Renault's annual shareholders' meeting, where reams of data is traditionally transmitted at pace to a hard-to-impress audience, where small stakeholders traditionally ask unanswerable questions, where dozens of resolutions must be put to a vote and where even the CEO's salary (although considerably less than that of a Stellantis or Volkswagen chief) gets enviously discussed by folk whose stake in the company may not reach four figures. Who would want to do a press interview after that?
Denne historien er fra June 26, 2024-utgaven av Autocar UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra June 26, 2024-utgaven av Autocar UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Poster car that went from rusty to trusty
One evening, two years ago, George Pappas was being driven down his local high street by a mate and mulling over whether to replace his Mk4 Golf diesel, a recent purchase that was boring him to death, when his girlfriend, also in the car, spotted an old BMW 3 Series at the side of the road with a 'for sale' sign in the window.
THE SEVEN-SEATER THAT VOLVO DARE NOT KILL OFF
The current-gen XC90 has been on sale since 2015 for good reason
GENESIS ELECTRIFIED G80
Where the story begins, in the Hyundai premium marque’s luxury saloon
LEXUSLBX
Can you shrink premium quality to fit an SUV this small? We now know
Rolls boss ready to 'define the next chapter'
Nine months into the job, Rolls-Royce CEO and car guy Chris Brownridge tells STEVE CROPLEY what he's learned and where the firm's heading
Once more, with feeling
AC Cars' recreation of the classic MkII Cobra is at first glance a faithful facsimile of a 1960s performance benchmark. SIMON HUCKNALL drives it
MERCEDES-BENZ CLE
Does a PHEV set-up work in a coupé that exudes such old-school vibes?
ANALOGUE SUPERSPORT
Lotus Elise specialist uprates 1990s icon with an eye on track days
ALPINE A290
The hot hatch is alive and well, and living in France. On both road and track, there's much to savour`
UK HANGS ON TO OLD CARS
Average car age climbs as high prices dampen demand for new models
