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Buick's Chinese-built Envision earns top IIHS safety honors

Let's see how your racist uncle formulates a counterpoint for THAT.

Andrew Krok Reviews Editor / Cars
Cars are Andrew's jam, as is strawberry. After spending years as a regular ol' car fanatic, he started working his way through the echelons of the automotive industry, starting out as social-media director of a small European-focused garage outside of Chicago. From there, he moved to the editorial side, penning several written features in Total 911 Magazine before becoming a full-time auto writer, first for a local Chicago outlet and then for CNET Cars.
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Andrew Krok

Despite some of the bad press Buick received for bringing its Chinese-made Envision to the US, the car is already proving old stereotypes wrong.

Take, for example, its recent Top Safety Pick+ award from the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety.

This isn't some honor that Buick can just purchase. Any company aiming for Top Safety Pick+ must outfit its vehicle with a complement of safety measures that go well above your standard federal regulations. The car must not only survive small-offset accidents, it must come equipped with some form of autonomous emergency braking.

In the video of its small-overlap crash test, the Envision prevents severe intrusion into the cabin when struck. Vehicles that fail this test often collapse in and around the footwell area, which can mean big damage to a person's lower extremities.

The Envision's results aren't all pansies and roses, though. The IIHS noted that the dummy's head didn't contact the front airbag that much, and the seat belts weren't tightening fast enough to properly restrict movement. Those situations can both lead to injuries, but based on the group's testing regimen, the Envision is still superior to many others in its segment.