Renault Group has named its recently appointed CFO, Duncan Minto, as interim CEO to replace Luca de Meo, who is leaving the automaker to run the luxury group Kering.

Minto will run the company alongside Renault Group Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard, Renault said in a news release on July 15. It said the search for a permanent CEO is “already well underway.”

The news of de Meo’s departure was a shock to many people, as evidenced by the fact that Renault now has to nominate an interim CEO. Renault announced de Meo’s resignation on June 15 and said it would name a replacement by July 15, de Meo’s last day.

Apparently, the search for a new boss is not that easy, and one can easily presume that even the board of the Renault Group was a little surprised by de Meo’s move. Other candidates for the post include Dacia CEO Denis Le Vot, former Stellantis Chief Purchasing Officer Maxime Picat, and Renault Group Director of Purchasing Francois Provost. Unless Jean-Dominique Senard still has another trump up his sleeve and comes up with still another name.

Minto, aged 50, has been CFO since March 1, when he replaced Thierry Pieton. Renault said in the news release that Minto “has a solid experience in finance and a deep understanding of the issues at stake.”

Minto studied at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and began his career with Renault Group UK in 1997. In 2001, Minto joined Renault’s finance department in France, where he was responsible for investor relations. He was named finance director of Renault-Nissan Portugal in 2006, managing director of Renault Ireland in 2012, and then CFO of the Asia-Pacific region in 2013.

He was promoted to Vice President of Finance, Group Control Analysis, in 2017, then became CFO of the Dacia brand in 2022, and subsequently took on the role of CFO of the Alpine brand in 2023.

De Meo’s turnaround

Minto takes over from Luca de Meo, 58, a former Volkswagen Group and Fiat executive who turned around Renault’s finances from record losses of more than €8 billion in 2020 to a €4.3 billion profit in 2024 and reinvigorated an automaker still reeling from the fallout of the arrest of CEO Carlos Ghosn in late 2018.

Ghosn was arrested in Tokyo in 2018 on charges of financial impropriety. It caused deep fissures in the Renault Nissan Alliance and called into question Ghosn’s volume- and scale-driven business plan. De Meo implemented a Renaulution turnaround plan, which returned the automaker to profitability in about a year and to record margins in 2024. The next strategic plan, Futurama, is due to be presented this autumn.

Objectives revised

In his first address as CEO, Duncan Minto had to announce that the Renault Group had to revise its annual objectives, due to “the deterioration of the automotive market’s dynamics.” The manufacturer has revised its forecasted operational margin of 7% or more to 6.5%

Renault faced sales volumes below expectations in June, caused by a “decreasing market of individual buyers and a bad performance of the LCV market in the whole of Europe.” Nevertheless, preliminary figures indicate that the Renault Group still managed to achieve a turnover of €27.6 billion in the first half of 2025, 2.5% higher than in the same period last year.

The operational margin turned around by 6%, which is a pity, according to Duncan Minto. “We were aiming higher for the first semester of 2025, but we still expect a positive evolution in the second half of the year.”

To achieve this, Renault wants to reinforce its cost-reduction plan. More news about this will be given at the end of July, when the company will present its quarterly results. Minto doesn’t see a significant improvement in the individual buyers’ market in the second half of the year. Still, the new boss is counting on his “multi-solution” offer to meet expectations. Renault will be presenting another batch of new models before the end of the year.

Shareholders reaction

The reaction of Renault’s shareholders to the announcements was devastating. Yesterday, a Renault share dropped 18% on the Paris stock exchange, marking the largest share depreciation in five years.

As always, stock exchange shareholders and speculators have reacted vigorously when a company posts a warning about future financial results. Especially for automotive companies, which are prone to various setbacks in a highly volatile and unpredictable market, the threat of whimsical shareholders remains as significant and detrimental as ever.

Over the last few weeks, there has been a lot to discuss regarding TACO, which stands for ‘Trump Always Chickens Out’, referring to his numerous changes of mind, policy, mood, and actions. One should also consider SACO, meaning that shareholders always chicken out at the slightest hint of ‘band news’.