The Chevrolet Bolt, the most affordable electric vehicle in the United States with a starting price below $28,000, is being withdrawn from production for a second time. General Motors confirmed the model’s limited revival last October was driven by popular demand, but the Kansas City plant will soon transition to building the Buick compact SUV and the Chevrolet Equinox. Viewed from Detroit, the decision underscores a decade-long shift in American buyer preferences away from small cars toward higher-margin trucks and SUVs; the Silverado pickup and Equinox SUV were GM’s top sellers in the first quarter.

That preference is mirrored in global product pipelines. In Mexico, Chevrolet’s next-generation Cheyenne (badged Silverado in the US) arrives with V8 engines, a 16.3-inch touchscreen, and off-road-focused ZR2 variants. Hyundai’s updated Santa Fe hybrid, now on sale in Europe, offers up to seven seats and a digital key system, while BMW’s fifth-generation X5, undergoing final testing in South Carolina, will for the first time offer battery-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell versions alongside combustion and plug-in hybrid options. In Colombia, the Chery Tiggo 9 plug-in hybrid SUV claims a combined range of up to 1,400 kilometres, and the boxy Jetour T2 has reached 500,000 global sales in just 33 months, making it the fastest-selling SUV of its type, according to the manufacturer.

Against this trend, a handful of small, affordable electric models are emerging, often with regional specificity. Honda’s Super-N, a reworked version of a Japanese Kei car, launches in the UK at under £19,000 with a 128-mile range and a playful design, though its firm ride has drawn criticism. In Japan, the Honda N-BOX Kei car, the country’s best-selling vehicle for over a decade, receives a minor update in July with enhanced connectivity and driver assistance. Kia’s electric PV5 Passenger gains a seven-seat variant for the UK market, targeting families and shuttle operators with a range exceeding 240 miles. Meanwhile, DFSK, a brand under China’s SERES Group, debuted the right-hand-drive E5 PLUS plug-in hybrid in Hong Kong, optimised for Southeast Asian languages and driving conditions, as part of an expansion that includes production hubs in Indonesia and Vietnam.

In a separate development, office furniture maker Steelcase opened a flagship dealer showroom in Chennai, India, in partnership with local firm Reflections, extending its South Asian footprint amid growing demand for workplace solutions. The next milestones to watch include the US market launch of the new Chevrolet Silverado/Cheyenne in the coming months and the start of Honda N-BOX deliveries in Japan this July.