The Buick Envision: A Chinese SUV in the USA

Buick Envision. Photo by Alexander Migl.

Back in the 2000s, there was widespread talk of Chinese-built vehicles entering the USA market. The Chinese economy was growing rapidly, and a large middle class was emerging there, causing car sales and production to skyrocket. As late as 1985, only 5,200 cars were built in China. By 2008, China was the number-one country for automobile production in the world. Chinese cars were exported to most of the world, with the United States being one of the main holdouts. Safety was a big concern; many Chinese cars then were known for folding up like tissue paper in crashes. The Landwind, Brilliance BS6, and Chery Amulet were three well-known examples whose crash tests were seen around the world.

Times have changed. Chinese cars of today are much better in quality than they were a decade ago. Today, over a third of cars in the world are built in China, a total of over 24 million. Four models sold in the United States are built or have been recently built in China. The Buick Envision and Volvo S90 are exclusively imported from China. The Cadillac CT6 plug-in hybrid is built in China, but the standard variant is still built in Hamtramck, Michigan. The Volvo S60 Inscription was previously built in China, but since late 2018 all S60 variants have been built in South Carolina. 

Of these four models, the Envision was the first to launch and is by far the best-seller. It is a compact premium crossover SUV that starts around $32,000. Reviews have been good, but worse than many vehicles in its class. Sales have been around 30 to 40 thousand per year.

Why a Buick? Believe it or not, Buick has been a very prestigious brand in China for over a century. Today, about 80 percent of Buicks sold in the world are sold in China. 

The Battronics Van - Made for 20 years, less than one a month

A 1977 Battronics van, from NHTSA crash test footage, October 1979

Following the gas crisis of 1973, there was a bit of an electric vehicle fad. Gas prices remained elevated from 1973 to about 1981, peaking around 1979-1980 during the second gas crisis. As such, from about 1975 to 1983, electric vehicles experienced a surge in popularity. While their sales figures remained minuscule compared to gas vehicles, there were a wide range of electric vehicles available during this period - most of which were hasty conversions of already existing gas-powered vehicles. Vehicles such as the Ford Escort, Ford Fairmont, Renault LeCar, Dodge full-size pickup, and many others were given electric conversions. Given their limited market penetration, these vehicles in themselves could be considered somewhat unusual. 

The Battronic electric van, however, was a true oddball. It's perhaps best known today for a 1979 crash test conducted by the federal government in which the entire body came off of the frame. But horrifying safety, even by the standards of the late 1970s, is only a small part of this van's story.

The company that designed the Battronics van, Smith Electric Vehicles, was founded in 1920 in England. At that time, the automotive industry was still in a relatively early stage, and there were two schools of thought on what should power a vehicle: petroleum-based fuel or electricity. (As we all know, petroleum-based fuel won out, at least for the next century or so). Smith built electric vans, buses, trams, and delivery vehicles. In 1962, looking to enter the United States market, they formed a partnership with Boyertown, a coachbuilder from Boyertown, PA, and Exide Batteries, forming a company called the Battronic Truck Corporation. Their only product was this van. 

Production started in 1963. Smith withdrew from the partnership in 1966, but this van continued in production until 1983. Even though it was made for 20 years, less than 200 were produced. 

The van could go from 0 to 30 mph in 11 seconds and was capable of carrying 800 pounds of cargo.

The first-generation Acura RDX: The Shape of Things To Come

The first generation Acura RDX isn't a 10 on the unusual scale - it is a recent vehicle (sold new from August 11, 2006 to early 2012), sold by a major automaker, in a a traditional form factor. I've even ridden in one. What makes the RDX unusual is its turbocharged four-cylinder engine and status as a pioneering compact luxury SUV. 

At the time of the RDX's introduction, turbocharging was relatively rare outside of sports cars; in the 2010s, many mainstream vehicles began to use smaller-displacement engines with turbos in an effort to improve fuel economy. 

The RDX was also the second compact-sized luxury SUV introduced, following the BMW X3 by three years. At the time of the RDX's introduction, there were plenty of compact crossover SUVs - including Honda's own CR-V, which donated its platform to the RDX - and the Toyota RAV4, Jeep Liberty, Ford Escape, and Kia Sportage, to name a few. Following the RDX's introduction, Audi, Infiniti, Volvo, and Mercedes introduced their own luxury compact SUVs by the end of 2009.

Sounds like a formula for success. Honda's CR-V sold over 170,000 units in '06. The RDX was just as well-reviewed as its rivals. But sales weren't very good. The RDX sold 23,356 units in its first full year - 2007 - and less than 16,000 each year from 2008 to 2011. During this period, the CR-V hovered around 200,000. 

The main reason the first-gen RDX didn't sell well was the market. There just wasn't much of a market for luxury compact SUVs in the late 2000s and very early 2010s. Taking 2010 sales figures vs. 2018 sales figures:

BMW X3: 6,075 in 2010, 61,351 in 2018 (10.10x increase)

Audi Q5: 23,518 in 2010, 69,978 in 2018 (2.98x increase)

Infiniti EX35/QX50: 8,312 in 2010, 25,389 in 2018 (3.05x increase)

Volvo XC60: 12,031 in 2010, 32,689 in 2018 (2.71x increase)
Mercedes GLK/GLC: 20,946 in 2010, est. 87,728 in 2018 (4.19x increase)

The RDX, meanwhile, sold 14,975 units in 2010 and 63,580 units in 2018, an increase of 4.24 times.

The first-gen RDX was replaced with a more conventional design that included a non-turbo engine in spring 2012. Sales jumped from 15,196 in 2011 to 44,750 in 2013. But the new RDX, launched on June 1, 2018, includes a turbocharged engine, and sales are better than ever.