The Italian is set to leave Renault next month to become boss of Kering, the struggling owner of Gucci and Saint Laurent, from mid-September. While de Meo has spent his entire career in the car industry, he has been making discreet overtures to the luxury industry for some time, according to two people with knowledge of the situation.

The Gucci owner is banking on an automotive turnaround specialist to fix its luxury brands. Francois-Henri Pinault, the billionaire heir who has headed up the French fashion house Kering Group for the past 20 years,

The French luxury group that owns brands such as Gucci, Saint Lauren and Balenciaga, makes an out-of-the-box appointment to revive its flagging sales