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About Envision

The Buick Envision is a compact crossover with an unusual passport. Since it reached American showrooms for the 2016 model year, it has been built in China, making it one of the very few Chinese-made vehicles sold here by a mainstream brand. That origin has given the Envision a second career as a recurring character in trade-policy stories, from the first round of tariffs in 2018 to the much steeper duties of recent years.

The first Envision was a handsome, comfortable small SUV that sat between the Encore and Enclave. The second generation, launched for the 2021 model year, grew sleeker and more modern, with a turbocharged four-cylinder, all-wheel drive on most versions, a widescreen dashboard and Buick's plush Avenir trim at the top. Reviewers have generally praised its quiet ride and upscale cabin while noting that it prices itself into territory where established luxury and well-equipped mainstream rivals are hard to beat.

That pricing problem sharpened when tariffs on China-built vehicles rose, pushing the Envision's sticker higher and its sales lower. GM's answer, according to reports, is to bring production home, with the next-generation Envision planned for its Kansas City-area plant later in the decade. Until then the Envision competes with the Mazda CX-5 and CX-50, the Volkswagen Tiguan, upper trims of the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4, and entry luxury models such as the Lexus NX and Acura RDX.

Look here for reviews and comparison tests, recall notices, pricing and incentive news, and the trade and manufacturing decisions that will decide where, and whether, the Envision is built in the years ahead. The move to an American plant, if it happens on schedule, would turn one of the industry's most politically awkward products into an ordinary domestic one. Used-car shoppers will also find trade-in and resale stories, useful for a model whose value has been pushed around by policy at least as much as by the market.