My Favourites :
Volvo - For making safest cars. Making the brand itself as a benchmark for safety. And taking all the crxp from Ford.
Mazda - For making those cool MX series in 90s, RX-7 and RX-8s. Bringing wankel engines to masses. And again taking all the crxp from Ford.
Subaru - For making those cool monsters under the hood. My fav model - SVX sad they didnt have stick shifts. Kudos to their boxer engines and awd. Traction control at its best i.e for the masses. And staying by its traditions, though being GMs biatch (Its really hard).