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De Meo stepped down as Renault CEO on Monday

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Le Vot has run Renault's Dacia brand since 2022

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Picat lost out on top job at rival Stellantis ( STLA )

By Nick Carey and Gilles Guillaume

LONDON, June 17 (Reuters) - Luca de Meo's abrupt

departure as Renault CEO has kicked off a search for his

successor, with analysts mentioning longtime insider Denis Le

Vot and Maxime Picat of rival Stellantis ( STLA ) as suitable fits to

continue the French automaker's turnaround.

Renault shares fell as much as 8% on Monday, their

biggest one-day percentage drop since February 2022, as

investors worried about the company's future without de Meo at

the helm. Shares in Kering, where he will become CEO, rallied.

Picat, who is head of global purchasing and supply chains at

Stellantis ( STLA ), had been in the running for the chief

executive officer post at the world's No. 4 automaker. One of

two internal candidates, he lost out to Antonio Filosa.

Executive vice president Le Vot joined Renault from

university and has run its low-cost Dacia brand since May 2022.

Analysts at French brokerage Kepler Cheuvreux said both men

could be potential successors, whilst JP Morgan analyst Jose

Asumendi noted Renault's "strong bench" of brand managers,

including at Dacia.

"We (...) also would envision potential external candidates

from (other companies) such as Stellantis ( STLA ), VW Group, Nissan ( NSANF ),

amongst other competitors," he said.

Le Vot and Picat, who are both French nationals, did not

immediately respond to requests for comment. Renault declined to

comment on its succession plans.

Whoever succeeds de Meo will have to hit the ground running.

Although he revived Renault and overhauled its strategic

alliance with Nissan ( NSANF ) during his five years as CEO, like

other traditional automakers it faces rising competition from

Chinese rivals. The company must also lean on partnerships

because it is smaller than most other mainstream manufacturers.

De Meo's departure will add to concerns about Renault's

ability to remain independent, said Jefferies analysts, a

perennial challenge in an industry built on scale.

Renault was the world's No. 15 automaker by sales in 2024,

according to data compiled by industry analyst Felipe Munoz,

down from 14th spot in 2023.

In recent years, it has been overtaken by Chinese automakers

BYD, Geely, Chery and Changan

is likely to surpass it in sales this year.

To make up for its small size as the auto industry wrestles

with the huge expense of going electric, Renault under de Meo

teamed up with a number of partners and investors including

Google, Qualcomm ( QCOM ) and China's Geely.

The partnerships have helped reduce costs, but labour unions

claim they threaten the company's in-house know-how.

INSIDER VS OUTSIDER

Under Le Vot's leadership, the Dacia brand has performed

well thanks to its Sandero and Duster models.

In April, the subcompact Sandero was Europe's No. 2 selling

car - behind the Renault Clio - and the Duster SUV was No. 7,

according to research firm JATO Dynamics.

Le Vot had previous management stints in Turkey and Russia,

where he was chief operating officer from 2011 to 2013, and ran

North American operations at alliance partner Nissan ( NSANF ),

where he oversaw the launch of the new Altima sedan in 2018.

Picat has spent his entire career at PSA and then

Stellantis ( STLA ), formed when the French group merged with FCA in

2021.

He was head of the Peugeot brand from 2012, where he oversaw

the launch of two of its bestsellers, the 2008 and 3008 SUVs.

A Stellantis ( STLA ) source who knows Picat said he didn't know if

he was interested in the top job at Renault, but that he would

"not be surprised" if he was talking to the French automaker.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he

was not authorised to discuss the matter publicly, said it would

be normal for an executive to look elsewhere after losing the

race to become CEO.

(Additional reporting by Giulio Piovaccari in Milan; Editing by

Josephine Mason and Catherine Evans)