Here, Nissan tends to have the sportiest image. Toyota and Honda are regarded as having the best build quality and reliability. Mazda has a sporty image as well. But, it plays second fiddle to Nissan bigtime. Mitsubishi..,... has been regarded as an also-rans aside from the Evo and maybe the new Lancer. Subaru..... I'm not sure why it isn't more popular than it should. They make nice, tough cars. But, the lack of a V6 or bigger engine may be the culprit. Not everyone is drawn to a 4-cylinder car, even a turbocharged one. Many people regard V6 and bigger NA engines as part of refinement, including me.

. Turbo-4's still has an image of being expensive on maintenance.
Both Toyota and Honda haven't had a turbocharged/supercharged car in their lineups for a very long time and yet, they're the top 2 Japanese car makers in the U.S. Even Nissan keeps the use of forced induction to a mimimum. All 3 also limit the use of AWD. Coincidence?