Surprise appointment at Renault? François Provost, purchasing director, is expected to succeed Luca de Meo

Renault's purchasing director, François Provost, is expected to be appointed as its new CEO, Le Figaro reported on Tuesday, July 29, following the departure of the car manufacturer's former boss , Luca de Meo, to Kering .

"The board of directors will meet on Wednesday to approve this appointment unless there is a last-minute change of heart," the daily said.

A Renault spokeswoman said that "the selection process is ongoing and well advanced," without wishing to make further comments before the next meetings of the nominations committee and the board of directors.

The announcement of this appointment could therefore be confirmed this Wednesday, the day before the presentation of the Renault group's first-half 2025 results.

A small surprise as other names have been circulating since the announcement of Luca de Meo's departure. Maxime Picat, in particular, who had just left Stellantis , or, internally, the general director of Dacia, Denis le Vot, or that of the Renault brand, Fabrice Cambolive.

Born in 1968, François Provost is a graduate of the École Polytechnique and the École des Mines de Paris. After beginning his career in France at the Treasury Department of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, then as an industrial advisor to the Ministry of Defense, he joined Renault in 2002.

From 2005, he held the position of Managing Director of Renault-Nissan in Portugal and, after returning to France from 2008 to 2010, then pursued a career abroad: in Russia, as Deputy Managing Director, in charge of operations, and from September 2011, in South Korea, where he took the position of Chairman and CEO of Renault Samsung Motors. Still in Asia, in 2016 he became Director of Operations for Renault Group in China, then in 2017 for the entire Asia-Pacific region.

In 2020, François Provost was appointed Director of International Development and Partnerships for Renault Groupe, and, starting in 2021, he also took on the role of Group Public Affairs Director. In 2023, he added the role of Group Purchasing Director, reporting directly to Luca de Meo.