fashioned car brand perhaps best known for being

the favorite of American grandparents. But in

China, Buick is a kind of automotive rock star

General Motors's near luxury brand was barely

saved from the chopping block during the

financial crisis in part because of Buick's

strong performance in China. However, despite

efforts to turn the brand around, Buick has not

yet managed to distinguish itself in the United

States. U.S. sales of the brand fell considerably

further in 2018 than did any other GM mark even

though Buick had realigned its portfolio toward

SUV and crossovers and made bold and critically

praised bets on sleek cars and wagons borrowed

from GM's former European portfolio. But in China,

which has the world's largest auto market, Buick

is considered an elite, almost exclusive brand.

In 2018, just over 80 percent of Buicks global

sales were in China. GM sells more Buicks in

China than on its home turf in the U.S. like

almost five times as many. It also outperforms

all other U.S. manufacturers that sell there. In

America, Buick sold just under 207,000

Buicks in 2018. A 5% decline over

the previous year. But in China, the brand sold

over one million vehicles for the third year in a row.

That is almost one third of the 3.64 million total vehicles GM sold that year!

It is roughly twice the number of

Chevrolets and four times the number of

Cadillacs. Only GM's China exclusive Wuling brand

topped Buick and only by a few thousand units.

Buick also sells Audi, BMW, and Mercedes Benz in

China. So why did a brand that struggles at home

become such a hit over there? The reasons for

this unusual status are varied and go back a long

way. Buick has been in China since the early 20th

century. It was a car of choice for many famous

Chinese political figures including Sun Yat Sen,

commonly regarded as one of the founding fathers

of modern China. And Zhou Enlai, the first

premier of the People's Republic of China.

China's first impression of beauty comes from the

1950s Buick. And this is when all the important

representatives of state and government officials

in China were riding around in Buicks. Go back

and look at 1950 Buick and you think about

them driving around the streets of China. It

would've left quite an impression on everyone who saw one.

One key moment came in the 1990s when

China's auto market was still very much in its

infancy. Buick was already GM's most famous brand

in China and it partnered with a local

manufacturer to make brand new vehicles that

stood very much apart from the competition.

Bearing the name that already had such a

prestigious reputation in the country, the

Chinese never forgot that. The brand's

prestigious reputation particularly among the

country's decision makers gave it a considerable

head start. But it didn't rest on its reputation.

Some credit is also due to GM's partner in the

region. Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation

which is about the best regional partner GM could

hope to have in the country. SAIC has over the

years pushed GM to keep the quality of its cars

high and the product fresh. A very important step

in a country where consumers are spoiled for

choice. The result is that the fit and finish in

Chinese Buicks is the best the brand offers in

the world. As of 2018 Buick had sold 10 million

units in China since it had first launched in 1998.

So they have a big partner that's what got them

established and that will be one of the key

factors for them to continue to thrive in China.

It's going to depend on maintaining that

relationship and continuing to foster that relationship.

A lot of success depends on a good domestic partner.

Over the years, Buick has also been careful to

cater to these somewhat unique tastes of the

Chinese buyer. For example in China one of the

major coaches of choice for high powered executives is, believe it or not:

the minivan.

Spacious and luxurious, minivans have almost a

limousine-like status in China. So Buick answered

that call and made upscale minivans that are

considered some of Buicks marquee products in the

country. The vans have interiors considerably

upgraded from the average family mover found in

the United States and enough space to seat a

Chinese executive's sometimes large entourage.

The brand has also worked hard to appeal to the

country's younger consumers. The average Chinese

Buick buyer is younger than 35. About half the

age of the average buyer in the U.S. Even Buick's

Chinese advertisements are distinct. Bearing high

tech and futuristic depictions of young urban and often wealthy people.

On the other hand, Buick has struggled in the U.S.

for a variety of reasons. A decline in quality

over the decades is partly to blame, say many

industry analysts. Buick also fell victim to

wider practices at GM such as the habit the

automaker had of slapping different brand names

in a single vehicle. The characteristics that

made Buick distinct from fellow GM brands, not to

mention other competitors, faded away and the

brand lost its identity, becoming mostly a

vehicle for customers who remembered what it had

been in its heyday. Now Buick is trying to take

some of the lessons it has learned in China and

bring them back home as it tries to forge a

renaissance in America. For example, GM began

manufacturing the Buick Envision in China and

importing it to the United States. Something

President Trump seems to have overlooked when he

was on the campaign trail slamming U.S.

automakers for building cars abroad.

"So these are the biggest in the world and we're

going to be talking to them and we want them to

build more cars in the United States and also

build them here and ship them overseas."

GM even sought an exception to U.S. tariffs on

imported cars for the Envision. It will not be

easy for Buick to shake its frumpy image and get

back on buyers' consideration lists. Buick has

for several years now scored highly on industry

analysis firm J.D. Powers metrics for quality and

has also earned competitive scores on service.

But Buick knows it has to fight to change buyer

perceptions in the U.S. One recent ad campaign

featured actors pointing to the brands cars and

asking incredulously: "Is that a Buick?", as

though they were surprised something so stylish

could bear that nameplate. But industry analysts,

such as Cox automotive Karl Brauer, think the

brand can still make a go of it in the U.S. if it

can succeed in China. That prompts the question

of how long Buick's success in China can last? As

Brauer is quick to note: "a company's reputation

in China can change in an instant," often for

reasons that have little to do with the brand itself.

Japanese and Korean automakers have found

this in the past. Buick is the eighth largest

brand in China in terms of market share,

competing with other foreign heavyweights such as

Volkswagen, Honda, Toyota, and Nissan as well as

several Chinese name brands. So far, things have

been far better for GM in China than they have

been for Detroit's other big automakers. Fiat,

Chrysler, and Ford. But it doesn't look like the

good times can go on forever.