Buick seems to have a perpetual identity crisis. But that can benefit shoppers. Sometimes, a brand seeking an identity and trying new things stumbles on a great design.
It’s too early to say whether the 2024 Buick Envista is great. What we can say is that it looks great and carries a surprisingly low price tag for something so pretty.
First of a New Era of Buicks
Buick calls the Envista the first vehicle to kick off a new design language for the brand. If that’s the case, we’re excited about the future of Buick. Because this thing looks fantastic. It’s also hard to categorize, which can sometimes mean a vehicle scratches a unique itch and finds an audience.
Prices start at $23,495. Buick charges $1,295 to ship most models, so we assume the same fee will apply to the Envista.
Beautiful Lines
The Envista, incredibly… we can’t believe we’re saying this… is based on the subcompact Chevy Trax. The Trax has long been Chevrolet’s most awkward-looking vehicle and is currently the least expensive thing in the Chevy stable. Chevrolet fixed its major problem when it unveiled a much better-looking Trax for 2024.
Buick has now taken that aesthetic and married it with a European design trend – the “SUV coupe.” Coupe-like SUVs have sleek rooflines and sporty looks, trading away some cargo space for an added dash of style.
In the Envista’s case, that makes for the best-looking Buick product in years. It’s meant, the company says, to offer “the cargo space and utility of an SUV, packaged inside sporty and sleek proportions typically found in a sedan.”
As bizarre as this is to say, the proportions are a tiny bit Porsche-like. A narrow nose sits above a wide maw of a low grille with needle-thin headlights. A pointed shoulder crease emerges behind the mirrors and grows more pronounced as it reaches the tail lights. The sleek coupe-like roofline arcs down to equally thin taillights that leave it with less lighting surface than most SUVs from the rear.
It’s a dynamic look – shocking from the same brand that gave us the squat Encore GX.
Interior Not as Remarkable
Inside, the look is less of a departure for Buick. It borrows much of the GX’s cabin. An inverted trapezoid bezel holds screens for the driver (8 inches) and the center stack (11). A flat-bottom steering wheel lends a bit of a sporty feel. Buick says the entertainment system “has been optimized to provide an enhanced user interface design, voice recognition, and multimedia applications.”
Performance Probably Meh
The powertrain won’t keep the sporty promise the body shape seems to make. It uses a 1.2-liter turbocharged engine Buick says is “expected to achieve 136 horsepower with 162 lb-ft of torque.” The company hasn’t said so, but that sounds like the 3-cylinder found in the Trax.
The company also hasn’t said much about the standard suspension. It notes that a Watts link setup is standard on the top-of-the-line Avenir trim and available on the mid-level ST. That doesn’t tell us what’s in the base model.
Sub-$25K Price Makes It Unique
All told it’s a gorgeous package at an affordable price. It probably won’t be a great performance car, but it looks stunning. And its low starting price puts it in an uncrowded space. In 2023, automakers sell just 10 cars for less than $25,000.
2024 Buick Envista Pricing:
| Trim Level | MSRP |
| Preferred | $23,495 |
| Sport Touring | $25,195 |
| Avenir | $29,695 |
What Exactly Is Buick Now?
We have a hard time explaining exactly what purpose Buick serves in the U.S. these days.
It’s an aspirational brand in China but mostly an afterthought on its home shores.
Chevrolet is General Motors’ affordable brand. Cadillac is its luxury brand. GMC and Buick, in theory, slot in as premium brands — something more upscale than Chevy but less expensive than Cadillac. GMC’s lineup is all hard-working trucks and SUVs.
That theoretically leaves a slot open for Buicks as road-going premium models. The Envista looks the part but doesn’t carry the price tag or the horsepower to match it. It further confuses the issue of what, exactly, Buick wants its identity to be.
Buick has also long fought the perception that it’s a brand for the oldest buyers (true story – this journalist once sat listening to a Buick public relations executive explain that the brand was pushing new designs meant to attract younger buyers while watching out the window as an elderly neighbor walked admiring circles around a new Buick test model).
The Envista, with its budget price and sleek looks, just confuses us further about what hole the Buick peg fits into. But we don’t mind.
It’s appealing, with its budget price and good looks. Maybe that’s enough of an identity for Buick to start making sense again.
