Episode #1383: Today we’re talking about Wayve’s push to become the AI driving partner for legacy automakers, Texas closing in on California as the top new-vehicle retail market, and Prime Day shoppers clicking “buy now” with a little more caution than last year.

Show Notes with links:

Texas is closing in on California’s long-held lead in new-vehicle retail sales, and that shift could reshape where automakers look for cues on product, pricing, and consumer behavior.

• California’s share of U.S. retail light-vehicle sales has slipped from 12.5% in 2019 to 11.4% today, while Texas has climbed from 9.3% to 10.8%.

• Texas already leads the nation in consumer spending on new vehicles, thanks to a strong appetite for higher-priced trucks and SUVs.

• Analysts say Texas reflects the “typical American consumer” more closely right now, with a mix of urban, tech, oil, agriculture, and suburban growth markets.

• California’s influence is still massive in design, EVs, software, car culture, and trendsetting, but affordability pressure is pushing more buyers toward used vehicles.

• JD Power’s Tyson Jominy summed it up: “California is the place where a lot of new ideas are sort of tried out, whereas Texas is a place where trucks and SUVs win.

• ”John Luciano, general manager of Street Volkswagen in Amarillo, Texas: “I’ve been around Toyota for 40 years. They don’t make mistakes.”

Wayve, a British AI startup founded by University of Cambridge robotics researchers, is positioning itself as the autonomous-driving partner for automakers that don’t want to become Tesla, but don’t want to be left behind by Tesla. With Stellantis and Nissan already signed on, Wayve is betting its “AI driver” can scale across brands, markets, and vehicle types.

• Unlike Tesla, Wayve isn’t building its own cars. It wants to sell autonomous-driving systems to traditional automakers as an off-the-shelf solution.

• Stellantis plans to roll out Wayve’s hands-free driving tech across brands including Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge, and Ram starting in 2028.

• The system uses an AI-first approach trained on driving video, rather than relying primarily on hand-coded rules or detailed maps.

• Wayve’s tech impressed Stellantis CTO Ned Curic during testing, including on Jeep prototypes in Michigan, even in snowy conditions and unfamiliar roads.

• Wayve co-founder and CEO Alex Kendall summed up the opportunity: “Not everyone wants to buy a Tesla. Our opportunity is to bring this technology to every other automaker.”

Prime Day may still be a retail juggernaut, but early 2026 data suggests shoppers are keeping a tighter grip on the cart. Numerator’s tracker shows both average order size and household spend are down from last year, even as Adobe says total online sales may still hit record levels.

• As of day three of Prime Day 2026, Numerator reported the average order size at $45.94, down about 16% from $54.78 during the same period in 2025.

• Average household spend also fell, landing at $121.26, down 13% from $139.71 last year.

• 58% of Prime Day households placing two or more orders, matching last year’s pace.

• Adobe’s data showed first-day U.S. online sales were up 5.3% year over year to $8.3 billion, suggesting more shoppers may be participating but spending less per basket.

• Numerator’s data points to a more cautious consumer, while Adobe still expects Prime Day 2026 to break records with $26.3 billion in U.S. online sales.