Here's another angle on the question: do you want Carrara to be a "true rival" because your so-called peers denigrate your choice of modeling app, and you're tired of being laughed at? Do you think that Carrara is not a serious 3D app because nobody in the "industry" uses it?

Check out Mark Bremmer's website. He's got some seriously serious work that was done for actual professional paying clients. I'd wager that not one of his clients made their decision to hire him based soley on what application he was running.

I use Carrara for my job. Sure, I'm not making the latest CGI spectacle, and I can honestly say that I'm not an uber-user. But my boss has been quite pleased with the results.