Stellantis. Manuel Gentile, director of the Stellantis site in Sochaux: "Our factory is twice as efficient as the Italian ones."

Arriving in Sochaux at the end of the 20th century, Manuel Gentile became one of the pillars of the historic PSA (then Stellantis) site. Upon graduating from Arts et Métiers in Lille, the Northerner sent out cover letters in the production sector.

"At Citroën, they told me I didn't have the profile they were looking for. At Peugeot, they said, 'Why not?' When I went for interviews in Paris, I didn't really know where Sochaux was."

While Zidane and Jacquet's French team earned their first star, the northerner settled in Doubs. A leap into the unknown. The gap between school and entering working life in France's largest factory is enormous.

He quickly adapted to the local and corporate culture. Like any engineer newly arrived in the Doubs region, he slept in the...

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