Buick's cool. No, really.

Buick is a hot brand -- in China.

Buick’s sizzling sales have driven General Motors — even as it closes plants and lays off workers at home — to the top of the pack in China, the world’s fastest-growing automobile market. 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.

I can attest to the truth of this article. On my first visit to China, my driver picked me up in a Buick minivan, and I was surprised at the number of Buicks on the roads. Later I enjoyed tea at a teahouse looking out over the Huangpu at the storied Bund and the Shanghai skyline -- prominent in which is a huge red neon sign blazing the Buick logo.