Very often a car purchase is made based on the reputation a certain manufacture has. Building up a brand is vital within the car industry where there is so much competition for business.
There are certain manufactures that have spent a lot of money on building up their brand awareness and have gained a reputation for being a prestige brand.
Skoda is a great example of how important brand reputation can be. Skoda was renowned for building poor quality cars that looked ugly and were very unreliable, but following their take over by Volkswagen in the late nineties, they hit their marketing hard and worked on building up a new customer base. They have now managed to completely turn around their reputation and have a large market share of the car industry.
Building up a brand can take many many years and often requires a ot of investment, but if it works, can be the difference between beating the competition and surviving the harsh retail industry.