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Best and worst car brands of 2022 according to Consumer Reports

It's that time again, Consumer Reports this morning lifting the curtain on its 2022 Annual Car Brand rankings and its 10 Top Picks in the car, crossover, and truck category. Drumroll, please: This year, Subaru climbs two spots to claim the winner's circle, having come third the last two years. Last year, Mazda climbed three spots from 2020 to take the crown. This year, Mazda slipped to second, BMW taking the last spot on the podium, also a one-spot drop from 2021. Six automakers in the top 10 hailed from Japan, which is one more than last year, and five luxury makers occupied the top 10, which is two more than last year. And South Korean representation didn't crack the top this year, after Hyundai managed tenth last year. The seven makes after BMW are: Honda, Lexus, Audi, Porsche, Mini, Toyota, and Infiniti.  The magazine and testing concern says its Brand Report Card "[reveals] which automakers are producing the most well-performing, safe, and reliable vehicles based on CR’s independent testing and member surveys," and that "Brands that rise to the top tend to have the most consistent performance across their model lineups." The domestics also took steps back among the 32 OEMs ranked on the 2022 card. Chrysler and Buick were the domestic carmakers who made last year's top 10 in eighth and ninth, respectively. This year, Buick dropped to eleventh, Chrysler to thirteenth. Dodge went from fourteenth to sixteenth. CR continues to ding Tesla's yoke steerer, the not-exactly-natural handhold responsible for the electric carmaker going from sixteenth last year to twenty-third this year.

Buick envisioning a refreshed Envision crossover

Buick's first fully Chinese-built vehicle in the U.S., the Envision crossover, is now getting its very first refresh. Cars grow up so fast, don't they? There's no time to be wistful, though, so we need to take a look at this prototype. It looks like the Envision refresh is going to be very mild and focuses on strengthening the family resemblance between it and other Buicks. The waterfall grille now has a horizontal bar that intersects with the badge, as seen on every new and updated Buick since the latest LaCrosse. And although that badge is covered, we wouldn't be surprised if it changes from the all-silver design to the classic red, white and blue version that was reintroduced on the LaCrosse. The lower grilles have been changed, too. The outboard grilles that house the fog lights look smaller and less pronounced than on the current model, and the center piece appears to be thinner and wider. It also more naturally merges into the plastic air dam. The tail of this Envision, though more heavily camouflaged, also shows some minor updates. The most significant of them are the new taillights. They appear to have a similar boomerang shape as those on the LaCrosse, a distinct change from the ovular units of the current model. The lower edge of the bumper seems to have more of a faux diffuser look, and the exhaust tips now blend into the shape of the bumper, rather than ending in simple round shapes. Since this update is clearly a mild one, we would expect to see the new Envision on sale sometime next year, probably as a 2019 model. It will join a rather fresh Buick lineup alongside the new Regal and Enclave. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2019 Buick Envision Spy Shots View 11 Photos Image Credit: KGP Photography Spy Photos Buick Crossover Luxury buick envision

GM seeks to exempt Buick Envision from U.S. auto tariffs

General Motors is seeking an exemption to a 25 percent U.S. tariff on its Chinese-made Buick Envision sport utility, the automaker said on Thursday, in a move to prevent the key model in the brand's U.S. lineup from becoming a victim of the U.S.-China trade war. The midsize SUV, priced starting at about $35,000, has become a target for critics of Chinese-made goods, including leaders of the United Auto Workers union and members in key political swing states such as Michigan and Ohio. The Envision, assembled only in China, last year accounted for about 19 percent of Buick brand sales in the United States. GM said in a statement that it filed the request on July 30 with the U.S. Trade Representative. An official notice was posted on Thursday on the regulations.gov website, which is tracking requests for exclusions from the so-called Section 301 tariff on certain imported goods from China. GM, the largest U.S. automaker, argued in its request that Envision sales in China and the United States would generate funds "to invest in our U.S. manufacturing facilities and to develop the next generation of automotive technology in the United States." GM said the "vast majority" of Envisions, about 200,000 a year, are sold in China. About 41,000 were sold last year in the United States. Because of the lower U.S. sales volume, "assembly in our home market is not an option" for the Envision, which competes with such midsize crossover vehicles as the Jeep Grand Cherokee and the Cadillac XT5. GM has taken other steps to soften the blow of tariffs, which hit just as the automaker had lowered the price of the Envision to make it more competitive. Ahead of the July 6 start for higher import tariffs, GM shipped in a six-month supply of Envisions at the much lower 2.5 percent tariff rate. Envision sales from April through June plunged to just 7,000 vehicles, while inventories climbed to more than 13,000 vehicles at the end of June. At the current sales rate, the Envision supply should be enough to keep many dealers stocked through the end of the year. GM had lowered prices by as much as $2,500 on the 2019 models, which it started shipping in late April. That means Buick's 2,000 U.S. dealers should have lower-priced Envisions to sell well into the fall. "The previous price point was too high" on the 2018 Envision, said Casey Clark, sales manager at Serra Buick GMC Cadillac in Washington, Michigan, in an interview.