The awards, which MotorTrend bills as the first of their kind, seek to highlight individuals whose work has moved the automotive world decisively into a software-centric era. Nominations opened this week and will be accepted through October 15, 2025. The winners will be celebrated in January during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, at a ceremony expected to draw some of the biggest names in mobility technology.
This year’s program marks the continuation of a longstanding collaboration between MotorTrend and QNX — whose software has been embedded in more than 255 million vehicles worldwide — as well as the arrival of Vector as a first-time partner. Together, the three companies are framing the awards as not only a recognition of individual achievement but also as a way of documenting a profound transition in the car industry: the shift from mechanical engineering to digital intelligence as the defining feature of a vehicle.
“Software is rapidly becoming the beating heart of the automobile,” said Ed Loh, MotorTrend’s group head of editorial, in a statement. “With QNX and now Vector as partners, we are proud to celebrate the visionaries who are making vehicles smarter, more connected and increasingly intuitive to drive.”
Carsten Hurasky, senior vice president of marketing at QNX, described the awards as an opportunity to “spotlight the contributors who are not just reshaping how the world moves, but redefining what is possible.” Dr. Matthias Traub, managing director at Vector, emphasized the collaborative spirit behind the project, calling the program “an excellent platform to recognize technically outstanding contributions” in the increasingly complex software-defined vehicle landscape.
The program is structured around three categories:
- Pioneer, which honors innovators who have broken new ground through research, development or deployment of novel software applications in the automotive space.
- Leader, recognizing executives and senior managers whose decisions have accelerated the adoption of advanced software solutions across the industry.
- Expert, designed to highlight specialists working in disciplines such as artificial intelligence, advanced driver assistance systems, digital cockpits, over-the-air updates, in-vehicle entertainment and autonomous driving technologies.
Submissions require a summary of the nominee’s career and contributions. MotorTrend’s editorial staff will evaluate the entries and select a group of finalists, to be announced in November. Winners will be revealed at an invitation-only gala on January 6, 2026, coinciding with CES, the annual technology showcase that has increasingly become a stage for automakers as much as for consumer electronics companies.
Since its debut, the SDV Innovator Awards have honored a global roster of figures drawn from automakers and technology suppliers, including Nvidia, Qualcomm, Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Rivian, Tesla and Xpeng. Their work has ranged from breakthroughs in autonomous driving systems to advances in digital cockpits and the underlying architectures that allow vehicles to update and evolve long after they leave the factory floor.
The awards reflect a larger narrative in the car industry, in which traditional mechanical benchmarks — horsepower, torque, handling — are increasingly joined, and in some cases overshadowed, by software capabilities. Automakers now see vehicles as platforms for digital services, updates and new revenue streams, a vision enabled by companies like QNX and Vector.
MotorTrend, founded in 1949 and perhaps best known for its Car of the Year, Truck of the Year and SUV of the Year awards, has long positioned itself as both a chronicler and an arbiter of automotive innovation. By establishing the SDV Innovator Awards, it has sought to extend that authority into the new digital era.
BlackBerry, the Canadian company once synonymous with smartphones, has reinvented itself as a supplier of secure communications and foundational software, with QNX as one of its crown jewels. Vector, based in Stuttgart, has built a reputation for enabling the testing, integration and optimization of vehicle software, making it a natural partner for an awards program centered on technical achievement.
Nominations can be submitted at MotorTrend.com/SDVSurvey through October 15. The eventual honorees, the organizers say, will be those who best embody the spirit of reinvention now animating the 120-year-old story of the automobile — a story increasingly written in code