Using third-party brands in a startup

Suppose we have created a community of motorists, where, among other things, users in their profiles indicate the brand of their favorite cars. Based on this information, the site contains statistics of brand preferences of this community. For clarity (beauty, as you like), along with the mention of car brands on the pages indicate their logos, etc.

It turns out that car brands, in this case, are, as it were, a stimulating factor for joining this community, from manipulating which it is supposed to make a profit.

As long as this startup does not generate income, everything is clear - the creators are working on the project, and the auto brands in the worst case do not react, and at best they don’t notice this project and do not even know about its existence.
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But suppose that the project has grown to some serious size (for example, objectively, to a federal or world scale) and began to earn good money. And the monetization of the project is not from selling cars, but from online advertising. And the project is not the official dealer of any of the auto brands represented on it.

Question: Could a situation happen in which car brands claim a part of the profits from this project for the right to use their trademarks? And if such a situation is possible, how can you avoid it in a civilized manner?

Ps.
The car theme was chosen as the most accessible example :-)