> If people made purely rational decisions when purchasing a car, the only manufactures left would be Toyota and Honda.
Not sure if this is different regions or just dated. In Australia now, Honda is a joke. They are overpriced, offer terrible support, etc. Toyota is quality beige, overpriced but reliable, kind of like Sony TVs 15 years ago before Samsung and LG became dominate.
Just like with TVs, the Korean companies (Hyundai & Kia) are the smart money brands at least in the Australian Market.