2025 Audi Q5 vs 2024 Buick Envista

Like many brands, crossover SUVs are now Buick's stock and trade. The venerable General Motors division now exclusively sells crossovers, in fact. And for the 2024 model year, there's a new name in the lineup.

The 2024 Buick Envista is the company's new entry-level subcompact crossover, replacing the Buick Encore and slotting below the Buick Encore GX (which confusingly keeps that name despite there no longer being a standard Encore). The Envista shares most hardware with the redesigned 2024 Chevrolet Trax but, as with all Buick models, it aims for a more upscale feel than its Bowtie-badged counterpart.

This new model launches in three guises, with Canada receiving the same trim line-up as the U.S. The Envista Preferred is the base model, the Sport Touring (ST) adds sporty styling touches, and the Avenir is the range topper. We sampled an Envista ST at a first drive event in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on some of the same roads GM engineers used to tune this new addition to the Buick lineup.

Summary: Arriving midway through the model year, the 2025 Audi Q5 compact SUV marks the first redesign of the German luxury brand’s bestselling model since the 2018 model year. That redesign brings Audi’s current design language and tech suite, helping the Q5 keep pace with more recently updated rivals such as the BMW X3, Lexus NX, and Mercedes-Benz GLC.

Verdict: There’s plenty to like about the new Q5, but it’s far from being the definitive small luxury SUV.