Roads are a utility. Cars allow you to access that utility. Sure, bikes and horses allowed access too, but it's much more convenient to use a car. At some past time in history, say 1921, Ford had 75% of the market on how you could access the roads. They controlled the method in which most people accessed that road, and therefore, they had an influence on how most people experience the road. Ford's biases toward low cost and easy access undoubtedly had an effect on the road experience for the public at large. You could use other cars, they were basically as good, but the Chevrolets and Buicks weren't nearly as popular.
As you remember from history class, the government regulated Ford so that their engines and features didn't skew too much towards either performance, comfort, cost or safety, but stayed completely neutral. Now Ford has a much lower market share :(