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.

After impressing with his turnaround of French automaker Renault, Luca De Meo is widely expected to be named as the new boss of Gucci owner and luxury powerhouse Kering.

Francois-Henri Pinault's reported 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 ,

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.

Shares in Gucci owner Kering jumped Monday over reports that the outgoing boss of French automaker Renault would take over as chief executive of the struggling luxury group. Renault shares, however, fell following its announcement Sunday that Luca de Meo,

Reports of de Meo’s switch to Kering sent the luxury group’s shares up by nearly 12% on Monday, recording their biggest one-day percentage gain since November 2008.

Investors may well be pondering that question as they digest news that Luca de Meo, lifetime car executive and architect of Renault’s nifty turnaround, has quit to lead Gucci parent company Kering.  In theory,

Kering setzt bei seinem nächsten Vorstandsvorsitzenden auf den Noch-Renault-Chef. Der Italiener hat den französischen Automobilhersteller erfolgreich saniert und soll seine Fähigkeiten nun auch beim angeschlagenen Modelabel Gucci unter Beweis stellen.

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.