In America, Buick is widely considered an old
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.