Gorden Wagener to Receive 2026 EyesOn Design Lifetime Design Achievement Award

A group of the world's top automotive designers has selected Gorden Wagener as the winner of the 2026 EyesOn Design Lifetime Design Achievement Award for his outstanding career in vehicle design. The award is unique as the recipient is chosen exclusively by previous winners of the award.

Wagener is the chief design officer for Mercedes-Benz Group AG. Before joining Mercedes-Benz in 1997, he worked as an exterior designer at Volkswagen, Mazda, and General Motors.

Born in Essen, Germany in 1968, he studied industrial design at the University of Duisberg-Essen after which he focused his studies on transportation design at the Royal College of Art in London. Joining Mercedes-Benz in 1997, he has headed the global design division of the company and all its brands since 2008 and has been the company's chief design officer since 2016.

Wagener has said his goal is to build the most desirable cars in the world, using a design philosophy of "Sensual Purity," which defines the specific styles of the different Mercedes-Benz brands. With each, he aims to create new visions of iconicity while satisfying a desire for beauty and the extraordinary.

I think Mercedes is one of the most challenging brands to design for, Wagener has told Forbes, because you have to respect the brand's history while looking to the future.

"We are excited to celebrate Mr. Gorden Wagener as the 2026 EyesOn Design Lifetime Design Achievement Award recipient," says EyesOn Design Chief Judge Glen Durmisevich. "Mr. Wagener has energized Mercedes-Benz products with beauty, style and purity of design while retaining the brand's recognition. He was chosen by the past recipients of the award, making this one of the highest forms of peer recognition within the automotive design community."

Previous winners of the Lifetime Design Achievement Award include Chris Bangle, Nuncio Bertone, Peter Brock, Ian Callum, Wayne Cherry, Walter de'Silva, Willie G. Davidson, Leonardo Fioravanti, Tom Gale, Ralph Gilles, Giorgetto Giugiaro, Chuck Jordan, Robert Lutz, Syd Mead, Gordon Murray, Shiro Nakamura, Patrick le Quement, Sergio Pininfarina, Stewart Reed, Peter Schreyer, Jack Telnack and Ed Welburn.

Wagener will receive the 2026 Lifetime Design Achievement Award at a black-tie event at the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club on June 19, 2026, as part of the weeklong series of EyesOn Design activities. These culminate in EyesOn Design at Ford House, the annual automotive design show held every Father's Day on the lakefront grounds of the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan.

EyesOn Design is unique among auto shows in celebrating vehicle design, not rarity, restoration, or celebrity ownership.

Other auto-related DIO events include the EyesOn Design Awards at the Detroit Auto Show, which will be held January 14, 2026, honoring exemplary design among new concept and production vehicles.