DETROIT — It might sound surprising to American ears, but 2015 was the best year for Buick in the car maker’s 112-year history.

Yes, that’s the same Buick still trying to overcome the American perception that it’s all stodgy sedans. Your grandfather’s Buick. Former GM vice chairman Bob Lutz a decade ago famously called Buick and Pontiac ‘‘damaged brands.’’ While Pontiac was killed off when GM emerged from bankruptcy, Buick was kept alive and had to find its way. But it has been a struggle.

In the past two years, Buick has been flooding US television airwaves with ads of people reacting with surprise that an attractive vehicle is, in fact, a Buick. (“That’s a Buick?’’) And the GM division has been rolling out new models aimed at younger customers.

‘‘The narrative hasn’t changed as fast as the brand has,’’ said Buick brand manager Rob Peterson at the North American International Auto Show last week.

Still, Buick managed to sell 1.2 million vehicles worldwide last year, a third consecutive sales record.

And that’s thanks to China.

Eighty percent of all Buicks are sold in China these days. Last year, that amounted to nearly 990,000 vehicles — 4½ times as many as were sold in the United States.

In China, Buick is everything it wants to be in the United States. The nameplate is seen as among the hottest luxury brands. And it enjoys rich historical ties. The last emperor, Pu Yi, owned two Buicks. The last provisional president, Sun Yat-Sen, regarded as the father of modern China, had one. So did the first premier, Zhou Enlai.

Now, Buick is using its success in the Chinese market to help its rebuilding efforts in the United States.

This summer, Buick will become the first major US automaker to sell a Chinese-made vehicle, the Envision crossover, in the United States. The model performed well in China after its debut there in late 2014. The United Auto Workers union criticized Buick’s decision when it was revealed last December, but reaction has been muted.

‘‘At one point, there would’ve been a larger uproar over this,’’ IHS Automotive analyst Stephanie Brinley said. But today, cars are built all over the world, and most buyers might think about a brand’s nationality but not about where each model is manufactured.

For Buick, making the Envision in China allows it test the waters in a new market. And if it sells well enough, it is possible Buick could manufacture the model in the United States.

Buick sales in the United States have fallen by 48 percent since 2002. A four-year streak of increasing volumes was narrowly snapped in 2015, but the automaker is confident it can get back on track this year. Buick outsells Lincoln and Acura in the United States.

Buick has redesigned sedans such as the Verano, LaCrosse, and Regal. It killed off the Lucerne. It will offer three SUVs: the Encore, Envision, and Enclave.

‘‘You can’t have enough SUV crossover offerings,’’ Peterson said. ‘‘It’s the hottest segment going.’’

This month, Buick will begin selling the Cascada convertible, the brand’s first new convertible in 25 years. It will be manufactured in Poland.

The company’s optimism is so high for the convertible that it’s planning to run its first-ever Super Bowl to promote it. It’s not expected the ad will make any mention of Buick’s troubled past.