Empathy and integrity are apparently attributes customers also see in Honda, which took the spot of most trusted mass-market auto brand thanks to the level of concern it showed for customers during the Takata fiasco. Honda was far from the only automaker affected by the airbag scandal, but it was the way that the automaker approached the situation that helped it come out ahead. "In many instances, it's not what you do, it's how you do it that builds or erodes trust," said Beavis.

While brands like Mazda and Hyundai both improved on their scores, BMW, Infiniti, and Tesla all saw drops in their rankings. However, AMCI still thinks that every automaker, even the winners, could stand to improve. It noted: "The industry has shown a slight improvement overall in Trust Index, but it should be noted that the median score is still 33 (up from about 28 in 2018) on a 100-point scale and all brands scored roughly between 20-50 points on the 100-point scale. The same can be said separately about both luxury brands and mass-market: Median is up a few points, but still a long way to go."