What's good for GM is good for -- China?

Last week, I wrote about the demise of the Pontiac brand of automobiles and mourned the passage of a brand, as well as the powerful loyalty a brand can inspire.

I couldn't figure out why General Motors would keep their Buick car line, which many associate with older people. How could a long term business model be based on a car line that would see many of its loyal customers vanish in the next two decades?

It just made no sense to me.

One of our online readers sent me a note and solved the mystery for me.

The one word answer why Buick was a part of the new General Motors plan for survival: China.

Yes, China.

It seems that Buick is among the top selling lines in China, where a growing middle and upper class are now buying cars. GM sold 665,000 cars and trucks in China last year. For now, only 1 in 100 Chinese own a car, compared to 9 in 10 in the United States. But the Chinese expect 130 million vehicles to be sold by 2020.

In doing some research, it appears that if you want to drive for success in China, you will be driving a Buick.

The Buicks being sold in China aren't exactly the same as the ones you are able to buy at the local dealership.

Multi-national corporations like General Motors and Ford sell cars and trucks all over the world. With the enormous research, development and engineering costs associated with bringing a car to market, it makes sense that automakers would use what has been successful in one market in as many markets as possible.

The polar opposite is true as well. A "cookie cutter" approach won't work everywhere, and often partnerships are formed with local manufacturers to tailor vehicles for the specific market.

Pontiac's G8 is actually based on a platform shared by its Australian cousin, Holden. The same is true of the Buick Park Avenue that is sold in China.

The cars that GM sells in China would probably sell well here as well. They are, for the most part, very nice looking cars.

Apparently, the Chinese love the smooth ride, rear wheel drive and soft velour seats of the GM cars. According to Michael Dunne, president of Automotive Resources Asia, a marketing strategy firm based in Thailand, Chinese consumers like these cars because "They like the image of what America is. America is big, broad and powerful."

GM is now selling more cars overseas than they are domestically.

How ironic is that! Americans are obsessed with driving cars made by the Japanese and the Chinese want to be like Americans -- the Americans of 30 years ago.

Several years ago when my daughters were still at home, they were obsessed with Japanese Anime. The characters that were drawn all looked very northern European -- very American to the people that were making the films.

So here we have Japanese people drawing fantasy films of Americans. Young Americans become obsessed with Japanese culture as a result of watching these films.

Will we ever be satisfied with who we are, or will we constantly be trying to be someone else? It seems that it is a universal affliction, aided by a constant barrage of images that play to all of our fears and insecurities. If we only had this car, that house we would be "happy."

I think that if the Beatles were recording today, "All You Need is Love" would be "All You Need is Stuff."

But I digress...

But I wonder, if the Chinese consumer movement is about 30 years behind us, who will be making nearly everything they buy in the future? Today, at many stores, it is difficult to buy anything that is not made in China. First it was Japan that made everything, then when their standard of living had risen too high, the Koreans took over. China usurped Korea.

Who's next?

As always, I welcome your comments. You can reach me by email at tstangl@lemarscomm.net, telephone 712-546-7031, x40 or toll free 1-800-728-0066 x40.

Thanks for reading, I'll keep in touch. Feel free to do the same.