- Late in May, John Elkann was back in Paris. The city had become a frequent destination for the scion of the Italian Fiat clan as he worked to get a combination with Renault SA over the line. But days before announcing the deal, Elkann walked into the apartment in the affluent 16th district of an unusual dinner companion: Robert Peugeot, a descendant of the namesake carmaker and Renault arch rival.