Cram a lot of horsepower under the hood of a car and strap on some comically large tires, and auto critics will drool over it -- even if sales are likely to be limited to Silicon Valley royalty and a few oil sheikhs.

That’s why the new Ford GT and Acura NSX supercars have dominated media coverage of this year’s Detroit auto show. But the most important car at the show may be one that got far less attention: the Buick Avenir sedan.

The Avenir is a “concept car” Buick isn’t manufacturing yet, but the concept alone reflects a major shift in the way Buick’s parent General Motors (GM), and other big automakers, are bringing cars to market. “It was probably most important thing at the auto show,” says analyst Dave Sullivan of consulting firm AutoPacific. “General Motors isn’t thinking of the U.S. with the Avenir – it’s thinking of the Chinese market.”

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That’s right – China. GM didn’t pitch the Avenir as a Chinese play at the Detroit show, but Buick is one of the most popular brands in China, thanks to the brand’s debut there in 1911 and several Chinese leaders, including post-World War II premier Zhou Enlai, who rode proudly in Buicks. Many analysts believe Buick — a sleeper brand in the U.S. market — would have been killed following GM’s reorganization following bankruptcy in 2009, if not for one thing: it’s GM’s best chance to target China’s nouveau riche and its booming middle class.

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GM is one of the strongest automakers in China — with about 14% market share — due to its long presence in the country and the shrewd choice of local partners. Of GM’s U.S. brands, Buick sells the most in China, followed by Chevrolet and Cadillac (the GMC truck division doesn’t operate in China).



China, in fact, has become indispensable to GM. The automaker and its joint-venture partners sold 3.5 million vehicles in China in 2014, the most ever for GM. In the United States, GM sold just 2.9 million vehicles in 2014. GM’s domestic market is more profitable, partly because the pickup trucks and SUVs popular in the U.S. cost more and have much larger profit margins. But auto sales in China are growing much faster than in the U.S. and other mature markets, which is why automakers are vying bumper-to-bumper for traction in China.





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