Six questions only we would ask

Tell us about your first car

‘A Renault 4. An old, red fire brigade car with blue lights.’

What is your proudest achievement?

‘Aside from my family, we’ve taken the UK from last in profit to among the best in the group.’

Tell us about a time you screwed up

‘Renault asked me to adapt the marketing to launch Vel Satis and Avantime in France. But they were not a success.’

Best thing you’ve ever done in a car?

‘I won a Renault F1 day, with five laps of Circuit Paul Ricard in an F1 car – I must have used 25 per cent of its potential!’

Supercar or classic car?

‘I drive a “super” car – an Alpine A110S.’

Curveball… How many people watched the first broadcast of the final Papa and Nicole ad in 1998?

‘I don’t have a clue! Papa and Nicole is iconic in this country – it must have been millions. [It was 23 million.] Everybody talks about it. In customer letters, people still refer to it.’