I don't believe the Tarif lover when he says "I traveled to china and don't see any Buick cars there. Why not" I wondered why no because I was in china last fall and saw plenty of them. Buick has had a long history there.
In the 1910s and 1920s, Buick was a prestige brand in the Republic of China with the brand driven by or for high-level politicians and the Emperor. The latter imported two Buick cars in 1924, making it the first automobile to enter China. By 1930, Buick claimed one-sixth of the total number of cars in the country.
Buick - Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Currently Buick sales are falling. I suspect one of the reasons is the Chinese are buying lots of EV's. I saw lots of Ev's of many kinds. From bicycles and motor cycles parked every where that you can scan a QR code on your phone and then ride off on. To even city buses, I estimated about 20% of the city buses I saw and rode on were EV.
Buick's sales in China have been declining in recent years:
2023: Buick sold about 517,000 vehicles in China, a 21% drop from 2022
2022: Buick sold 653,122 vehicles in China, an 18.2% drop from 2021
2021: Buick sold 828,432 vehicles in China, a 10.59% drop from 2020
2020: Buick sold 926,532 vehicles in China, a 6.31% increase from 2019
2019: Buick sold 871,506 vehicles in China, a 17.58% drop from 2018
from MSNBC 2019
About 80 percent of Buick’s global sales last year were in China, and nearly a third of GM’s sales in the country came from that brand alone. About 64 percent of Buick’s sales in China come from vehicles it doesn’t sell in the U.S., such as the Excelle sedan, the GL6 and GL8 minivans, the Velite 5 hybrid and the Verano compact car.
There really are a variety of reasons for this, say industry experts. First the Buick name is famous in China. It was the vehicle of choice for many famous Chinese figures in the middle of the 20th century, including some of the country’s best-known political leaders.
From CNBC August 2024
BEIJING — For the first time in China, new energy vehicles have outsold traditional fuel-powered passenger cars on a monthly basis, according to China Passenger Car Association data for July.
New energy vehicles include battery-only and hybrid-powered cars. The category accounted for 51% of new passenger cars sold in China last month, according to a release late Thursday.
That’s up from a penetration rate of 36% exactly a year ago, and a dip below one-third in January, according to CNBC calculations of passenger car association data.
Buick sells several electric vehicles (EVs) in China, including the Electra E4, Electra E5, and Velite 6.
See this link for what companies are currently the EV market share holders. Tesla is number 3 after 2 Chinese companies. While GM is not in the top 10.
https://cleantechnica.com/2024/07/02/47-plugin-vehicle-market-share-in-china-ev-sales-report/#google_vignette
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