To make it worse, three of them are products of American brands
The world's largest car market is a haven for automakers of all types. Whether you're making luxury cars, mainstream vehicles, budget cars, or sports cars, there's a place under the sun for everyone in China.
Given the diversity of this enormous market, it goes without saying that it's easier to sell cars that would otherwise struggle to find customers in other places. Furthermore, since China has opened up its market to western automakers relatively recently, customers aren't as conservative as in more traditional markets from Western Europe or North America, for example.
Still, there's one type of car the Chinese love more than anything else, and that's the sedan — the longer the wheelbase, the better. That's why most models featured in our list of cool cars sold in China but not available in the United States are sedans.
#5 Buick GL8
The minivan is falling out of grace in the United States, with increasingly more buyers replacing their people-carriers with three-row SUVs that offer the same space and practicality with the added benefit of more rugged looks and off-road capabilities. However, in densely populated China, minivans are surprisingly popular, which explains why Buick (out of all brands) is offering a premium minivan there and not in the U.S.
The Buick GL8 is actually in its third generation, having been redesigned last year. Built by the Shanghai GM joint venture and sold exclusively in China, it's marketed as a luxury minivan, and it even offers an upscale Avenir version. The sleek-looking seven-seat minivan sports Buick's latest design language and offers a single engine choice — a 253 hp 2.0-liter turbocharged gasoline engine.
#4 Ford Everest
Sadly for off-roading enthusiasts, Ford hasn't got a single rugged SUV in its U.S. lineup. However, in China (and other Asia Pacific markets), the Blue Oval also offers the Everest off-roader, a sturdy body-on-frame SUV based on the Ford Ranger T6 pickup truck (also not available in the U.S. but to be introduced for the 2019 model year as a new-generation model).
Built by the Jiangling Ford joint venture, the Everest is available with two engines in China: a 241 hp 2.0-liter EcoBoost GTDi turbocharged gasoline engine and a 158 hp 2.2 Duratorq TDCi diesel, mated to a SelectShift six-speed automatic transmission (gasoline) and a six-speed manual (diesel). The SUV offers go-anywhere capabilities thanks to a 225-mm ground clearance, 800-mm wading depth, the Terrain Management system, and electronic locking rear differential, among other things. Too bad it's not on sale in the U.S., where Ford's only serious off-roader is the F-150 Raptor.
#3 Ford Taurus
You'd be forgiven for thinking we're in the wrong here because Ford sells the Taurus in the United States too. You're right, but the US-spec Taurus is an aging sixth-generation model, while the China-spec Taurus is a seventh-generation model.
Launched in 2015 in China, the Taurus is based on a modified version of the FWD/AWD CD4 platform used by the Fusion/Mondeo sedan, which means it's more modern that the FWD/AWD D3 architecture underpinning the American Taurus. The China-spec Taurus is essentially a stretched Fusion if you like, but with a more upscale approach. After all, it's Ford's flagship sedan in China. It's also better-looking than its American counterpart if you ask us.
Manufactured by the Changan Ford joint venture, the Taurus offers three EcoBoost turbocharged gasoline powertrains in China: an 180 hp 1.5-liter four-cylinder unit, a 245 hp 2.0-liter four-pot, and a 325 hp 2.7-liter V6.
#2 BMW 1 Series Sedan
Launched in 2017, the BMW 1 Series Sedan is not only the first-ever sedan body style to bear the 1 Series name, but also the first 1 Series model based on a front-wheel-drive platform (the UKL2 architecture). Add the fact that it's good-looking and more affordable than a 3 Series and you may find it hard to understand why BMW only offers it in China.
The reason is BMW fears the 1 Series Sedan will steal sales from the 3 Series Sedan in traditional markets, while in China that is unlikely because the Bavarians only sell a long-wheelbase version of the 3 Series — making the size and price difference between the two models big enough to avoid cannibalization. The 1 Series Sedan offers three engine choices in China: a 136 hp 1.5-liter turbocharged three-cylinder unit mated to a six-speed manual transmission in the 118i, a 192 hp 2.0-liter turbo-four linked to an eight-speed auto in the 120i, and a 231-hp 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder unit mated to the eight-speed automatic in the 125i.
#1 VW Phideon
Remember the VW Phaeton? Well, the Phideon is its successor, but you can only buy it in China. The fact that the Phaeton reached 14 years of production is almost exclusively thanks to China, the market that bought most of VW's full-size luxury sedans — Europeans and Americans never cared for a VW-badged luxury car.
Since Chinese buyers are more pragmatic, Volkswagen has deemed fit to offer a follow-up to the Phaeton called the Phideon. Launched in 2016 as the first VW Group product to use the new modular, longitudinal-engine MLB architecture, the Phideon packs the best technologies the automaker has to offer, including Bentley's active air-suspension system, thermal-imaging night vision, adaptive cruise control, and self-parking, among other things.
Developed in Germany but built in China by the SAIC Volkswagen joint venture, the Phideon offers two gasoline engine choices: a 224 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder unit, and a 300 hp 3.0-liter turbocharged V6. A Phideon GTE plug-in hybrid version is also available. All those things are enough to gain the (paid) approval of George Clooney.