According to Mike Rutherford in today's Telegraph (not found on-line), brand rating consultancy Brandfinance have produced a top 20 car brands on criteria including the company's financial strength, headed by Toyota still. Mr. Rutherford not only bemoans the lack of any British brands in the list(!) but notes that

SAIC of China has come from nowhere to 14th, not because it's doing anything significant in terms of product [(!) - my italics] but because its books are healthy.