5 years ago these companies were afterthoughts. Sales were down, no tuners cared for them, nobody gave a damn. Now these brands improved their sales, woke up the aftermarket, and are on demand. These are my top 3.

1. Nissan/Infiniti - By a landslide. There was no Z, no 240, not even an Se-R. Now they got trucks, the Z is back, as is the Se-R. The Altima grew up and grew a pair. Infiniti? Try G35, probably the hottest sports coupe. FX and the new M are awesome also.

2. Mazda - They had the Miata. That was it. 626, Millenia, Protege? Who gave a shit. Now the 3 is a hot compact even with no balls. The 6 is a nicely priced sports sedan. The Mazdaspeed 6 is going to be hot. The new MX5 has as much power as the Mazdaspeed turboed Miata. The 5 is a nice future car that will sell well. The RX8 is an awesome handling sports car. I wouldn't even consider them 5 yrs ago.

3. Subaru - The STI wasn't here yet. The WRX wasn't even here yet. They redid the Legacy and Forester to levels. These cars were AWD dorky looking rides back then, now they're freaking hot.

 

1) Nissan/Infiniti (Self-explanatory)
2) Mazda (Same)
3) Lexus - 5 years ago they made great cars but they were all boring as hell. The GS was nice, but boring and not sporty. The new IS will blow the old one away. Also, the current LS is much better than the old LS400. In the last 5 years, they have stepped up as much as anyone.

 

I'd say 1 & 3 are right...but Mazda has still got a ways to gao after the RX8 flop.

 

1 & 3 are good, and probably Lexus like cob said.

Although Benz seems to be really strong these days, but they were fairly strong to begin with.

 

i personally dont like saturns but it seems they are turning around as well. 5 years ago the cars were shit, now it seems like they are getting more attention.

 

Sure the RX8 sucks to us, but I still see a ton on the road. A lot more than I did RX7's. Also think about how many 6's and 3's you see now. I still see tons of Protege5's. And sales was part of the criteria. Lexus was very popular 5 yrs ago. How many GS300 did you see back then? Out here, 1234234124. Mazda had shit 5 yrs ago.

 

i dont think subaru would be considered improved.. improved exterior, sure.. but their sales? eh.. not that huge of an improvement from what they used to be.

mazda still has some work to do. the Mazda6 is great, but with the price there's many alternatives. the Mazda3 is a hot item among the young'ns, and rx8 isnt doing as well as expected, especially with their faulty problems from the beginning. hard to build credibility back up after something like that..

nissan/infiniti came a long way. a while back people didnt even look at the G-series. now the G35. G35X. and g35C are the hot items. M35/45 (self explanatory), and the whole Nissan lineup was boosted. but still not much of a fan of it.. HP isnt the only thing people want.

i think the best would be toyota. theyre already beating ford in car sales here. theyre among the topselling brands in america. they would be considered the most improved right now.. and within a few years, they will be selling more cars and trucks than any other car brands out there.

 

How's Toyota improved? They're one of the most consistent. I'm talking rags to riches. And wasn't the RX7 like super expensive?

 

I wish I had the smarts of Carlos Ghosn.

 

I don't know if anyone will agree with me here but whenever I hear "improved automaker" I think Hyundai. They are always getting better and better. I'd never own one, not my style of cars, but they are really starting to put out quality products that are getting closer and closer to matching Honda and Toyota with each passing model year.

 

Nissan/ Infiniti, Hyundai, Subaru

 

Nissan/Infiniti - no explanation needed
Hyundai - they still need a lot of work to do, but have improved vastly.
Acura - besides TL and RSX, they didn't have much to be proud of. Now, they have TSX, TL, RL and MDX.

The most deterioated?
Mitsu, GM and Volkswagen.

 

I was thinking Hyundai but they'd probably be on the list in another 5 years. That new Sonata is sure to sell as will there Tib, Tuscon, and bigger Santa Fe.

 

hyundai, subaru can't really think of a 3rd

 

Nissan, Carlos Ghosn is considered a god in nissan community.
Subaru, with the WRX, Sti, B9 Bianca etc.
Lexus.

 

It did? I drove a 2005 Altima SE-R w/the auto & it felt like a dog.

 

Okay. 14 second car vs high 16 second car. Your butt's lying to you.

 

1: Nissan/Infiniti
2: Hyundai
3: Saturn

 

Nissan / Infinity
it gets blurry after that.

 

Nissan, Hyundai, and Subaru

 

1. Nissan
2. Hyundai
3. Chrsyler
4. Mazda

 

1. Nissan/Infiniti
2. Dodge
3. Mazda less the RX-8

 

1. Nissan/Infiniti
2. BMW
3. Honda/Acura

I think GM fell off big time, but I think the Cadillac brand has improved.....

 

Good call on Dodge/Chrysler. 5 years ago they had some crappy bloated FWD sedans and good trucks. Now they have the 300C/Magnum, SRT4, Pimpcifica (soccer moms luv em), and now the upcoming Charger. They are the only 'american' car company that is selling true american cars. Shame it took being bought by Germans to make it happen.

 

Chrysler is definitely top 5. Some of the answers boggle my mind. Can you guys list why you think so?

And fine the RX8 is crap vs the RX7. They still sell. Can someone prove me wrong that Mazda hasn't improved. I'll try to find sales figures when I get home.

 

Hyundai!

 

Huyandi
Subaru
Acura

 

Nissan/Infiniti
Chrysler
Hyundai

 

mitsubishi :gheylaugh:

 

Nissan, Hyundai, Cadillac.

 

1. hyundai
2. nissan
3. chrysler

 

vw

 

I saw a Charger on the road the other day and thought it looked hideous in person. I actually think the Magnum looks better (which is weird because I'm not a huge wagon fan)

 

Volvo isn't doing bad...

 

Eh, it's not doing bad...but I wouldn't call it "improved".

 

In 2000 Mazda had 3 press accolades. Look at the bottom to see how many they had in 04. http://media.ford.com/mazda/article_...ticle_id=15147

Still can't find sales history. Oh and the hated RX8 has awards too.

 

I don't get what people see in the RX8. I think it's ugly, has no power and terrible reliability in the cold.

 

It barely gets 18 mpg. Freakin' worse than most SUVs around.

 

at first i had some problems with people mentioning infiniti because i have owned a 90, 91 and 92 q45 and those cars will blow the doors off nearly anything else on the road...but then after the 94 q's (and everything else) they were pretty much shit until the g35 came out. so in addition to my rather odd vote for the saturns i second (or third, fourth, etc.) the vote for infiniti.

 

1. Nissan/Infiniti - This company turned around very quickly and now has strong sales, when they were shit about 4 years ago.

2. Hyundai - It's gotten to the point where I would much MUCH rather be stuck in a Hyundai rental car than anything Budget rent a car has on the lots. When I sat in the Hyundais at the auto show, I realized that they do in fact have comfortable, high quality fabric for the seats, nice guages, and a good overall feel. The Saturn area was right next to it, and every vehicle there felt like shit inside. I sat in the Ion Red line. Biggest POS interior I sat in during the entire show! In fact one of the worst in my life. Not to mention the drivetrain specs were crap. Anyway I digress.

3. Acura - While Honda has kinda lost some sales, Acura REALLY hit the mark with the 3rd gen TL and the TSX.