It was the culmination of weeks of increasing FCA exasperation over the behaviour of Renault’s largest shareholder.

Several months earlier, when the private discussions between Mr Senard and Mr Elkann graduated from co-operation into merger talks, the French state had been deliberately brought on board, including a meeting in Paris between Mr Elkann and Mr Macron.

[...]

One person said the process was accelerated over the weekend after the Financial Times reported on Saturday that the two groups were in talks. Once the news became public, the attitude of the French state changed, according to several people.

Questions that both sides believed were resolved were reopened, and new concessions requested.

“It was never enough, the goalposts were being moved constantly,” said one person involved in the talks.

[...]

“This deal will hurt the credibility of Macron in Europe and globally,” said a person close to FCA.

“This was his chance to play Europe’s kingmaker. Instead, he made everything harder. If he was hoping to lift France’s image as a place to do business, that’s over.”