Well for the tri-shield logo of buick doesn't really have any special meaning here, (while amusingly chevy's logo give chinese people a negative feeling). Chinese people love buicks because
the brand itself represents a symbol of status and luxury, and it is an
American car. Chinese people in general love german and american cars because they have good engine and large space, they hate underpowered cars and compacts(where japanese car do well), and for history reasons they boycott japanese car brands because they remind them of the WW2. And you don't want to risk anything on a car which is not politically correct if you are person with status in China. (A lot of japanese cars get smashed, set on fire, and vandalized in 2000s when people go on streets to protest against japan when japanese politician said they will not apologise for their doings in WW2.)
Buick is also THE car of the first president of modern China, Sun Yat-Sen, drove. And the well respected first premier of communist China(the China now), Zhou En Lai also have a Buick Century.
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Sun Yat-Sen on a Buick.
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The Buick that the first premier of China drives/owns.
It has been a well-known symbol of status and power since 1920s, also considered as a car of and for the pioneers of modern China. In 1930 one out of every six cars on Shanghai's roads was a Buick.
When in 1990s China opens up its market, Foreign entry into the Chinese auto market was still severely restricted. GM emphasize their history of their cars and the relation with Sun Yat-Sen, Chinese modernization and revolution, saying that they are not new comers, but returning back to china, so they got exclusive access first in the new market, and outruns any other foreign car brands in China.
Also, when china opens up its economy, people are getting rich, and they want a car that represents their status and also maintaining a humble image (not fancy cars like Porsche and Maserati that spoiled rich kid drives). And Benz, Audi and BMWs are super expensive because they are imported back then so owning one will give people hint of questionable income/ corruption. VW is also fine, but they are widely used in early taxis in china, so the business guys don't want them. Toyotas/Lexus/Hondas/Nissan has the image problem related to the war history, so people don't want to risk their image to be "supportive", and they always left chinese consumers out if there is a recall worldwide, so their image is really bad there. But if you don't mind you can get one, they are cheap.
Buick has multiple lines which are reasonably priced which suits the middle-class and elites needs, so it gained this "humble" and luxury image.
What make this story more interesting is that the first president of China in 1920s admired Ford back then, and has personally wrote Henry Ford a
letter to invite him visit china and if possible to build cars in China, but they turned down the offer, an assistant in Mr. Ford’s office sent Dr. Sun a terse rejection, acknowledging receipt of the invitation but saying, “We desire to advise, however, that Mr. Ford has made no plans for visiting China in the very near future.”. And now Ford is struggling to get a slice of the chinese market, you can hardly find any fords on the streets in China. Nor their brand has any historical meaning or any symbol here. They have lost the chance.
