Bourgogne-Franche-Comte

Bourgogne-Franche-Comté demonstrates how the 2016 regional merger combined distinct economic identities: Burgundy's wine and tourism with Franche-Comté's watchmaking and automotive manufacturing. Dijon serves as regional capital, though the industrial center lies further east around Montbéliard, where Peugeot's historic base anchors the Stellantis presence that remains the region's largest employer.

Wine production defines Burgundy's global reputation. The Côte d'Or's climats (vineyard plots) earned UNESCO designation in 2015, recognizing terroir distinctions that command prices rivaling Bordeaux premiers crus. Chablis, Côte de Nuits, and Côte de Beaune produce bottles that form France's second-largest wine export value. This agricultural luxury coexists uneasily with industrial decline elsewhere in the region.

Automotive transformation poses existential challenge. The electric vehicle transition threatens the internal combustion engine expertise that Sochaux and Mulhouse factories represent. Battery production requires skills and supply chains that differ from engine manufacturing; whether the workforce can retrain—and whether investment follows—determines whether the region maintains industrial employment or joins France's deindustrializing interior.