While fixing French carmaker Renault SA, Chief Executive Officer Luca de Meo pursued a hobby that would feed into his next job as CEO of Kering SA: A taste for the finer things in life, particularly Swiss watches.

French luxury group Kering announced Monday that it had appointed Luca de Meo, who helped drive automaker Renault out of crisis, its new chief executive as it tries to turn around the fortunes at its struggling flagship brand Gucci.

Francois-Henri Pinault's decision to hire Renault boss Luca de Meo is an audacious but necessary move to address the twin challenge of sagging sales and mounting debt at luxury group Kering , investors and industry players say.

Shares of Kering, the luxury-goods company behind Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and other brands, rallied as much as 10% on Monday after reportedly luring Renault’s chief executive to run the company.

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.

LONDON (Reuters) -News of Renault Chief Executive Luca de Meo's decision to leave the French carmaker and subsequent reports of him being lined up to take charge at luxury goods group Kering has created a stir across their respective sectors. Here's some initial reaction from analysts.

Dakota Johnson is a longtime Gucci girl. She styled the brand's streetwear years before she became an ambassador in 2017. And even though her close friend Alessandro Michele left the creative director post in 2022, her loyalty to the Italian label hasn't faded. On June 4, the Fifty Shades of Grey actor proved her fidelity with a new Gucci tote bag.

François-Henri Pinault is stepping back as CEO of Kering, hoping Luca de Meo can pull Gucci and Saint Laurent’s parent company out of a slump.