There are plenty of voices in the automotive world, and these forces all join together to let automobile manufacturers know what kind of cars to make, and what kinds of features these cars should include. The voice of the consumer is perhaps the most important voice in this melee, because consumers vote with their dollars, and dollars speak louder than words as far as car manufacturers are concerned. However, the dynamic of supply and demand between manufacturers and consumers is not a simple give and take from one to the other. There are many other kinds of people who are involved in making and breaking the use of new technologies and new design ideas in the automotive industry. Consumer advocates are very influential because they help shape the opinions of customers. Advertising agencies can be as important as any other part of the process that brings a car to the marketplace. All in all, there are many layers of interference between the people who manufacture cars and the consumers who buy their product.

Consumer advocates can play a very large role in how a new technology is received in the marketplace. For example, consumer advocates are some of the people who are directly responsible for the fact that head restraints are one of the most controversial kinds of car safety technology. These independent watchdog groups evaluate the safety of new kinds of car design elements, and many of these advocates have pointed out flaws in the design of head restraints that as of today go uncorrected by car manufacturers. Because not every known problem with the design of head restraints has been solved, head restraints remain one of the most controversial kinds of car safety technology. Until all head restraints in all cars are tested and proven to be safe for drivers and passengers, consumer advocates will continue to fight for improvements in head restraint design technology. This is just one example of what consumer advocate groups do to protect the public.

Advertising agencies are employed by car manufacturers to make their products look appealing so that consumers will want to buy their vehicles. This sometimes means that advertising agencies will try to make commercials that make a car sound more special than it really is. For example, an advertising agency might make a television for a commercial that mentions several times how important it is that the car in question has frontal impact protection. Once they have watched the commercial on television once or twice, a consumer will be likely to remember that this vehicle has frontal impact protection, and this knowledge will probably make the consumer more likely to want to purchase the car. Sometimes, advertising agencies are responsible for drawing attention to a genuinely impressive feature of the car in question, but just as often an advertising agency will focus on a feature that is less than unique. Advertisements are sometimes misleading, but most consumers are savvy enough to be able to tell when an advertisement is honest and when an ad is misleading in some way.