United States
MotorTrend Channel is the YouTube and social extension of MotorTrend, one of the United States' longest-running automotive media properties, tracing its roots to a print magazine founded in 1949.
Total Followers -0.1%
9.5M
Across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok
Primary Platform
YouTube
7M followers · 74% of audience
Engagement
2.3%
vs. 1.5% category median
Sponsorship Tier
Mega
Est. $27K–$63K / IG post
Following Hearst's acquisition of Motor Trend Group, WBD renamed the linear TV channel Discovery Turbo on January 9, 2026, aligning it with the international Discovery Turbo brand. The YouTube channel and motortrend.com continue under the MotorTrend name.
MotorTrend awarded the dual honor to the VW Golf GTI and Golf R, marking the third time Golf models have won in the award's history. Head of Editorial Ed Loh led a nationwide media tour to announce the winner.
Hearst's magazine division purchased Motor Trend Group and most of its media assets from WBD, a deal that triggered the subsequent TV channel rebrand and streaming service consolidation.
| Window | YouTube | TikTok | Combined | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Last 7 days | -9800 -0.1% | -226 -0.0% | +0 +0.0% | -10026 |
| Last 30 days | -9800 -0.1% | +1K +0.1% | +0 +0.0% | -8447 |
| Last 90 days | -9800 -0.1% | -9021 -0.4% | +0 +0.0% | -18821 |
| Last 365 days | -9800 -0.1% | -9021 -0.4% | +0 +0.0% | -18821 |
Daily follower snapshots from CreatorDB's longitudinal index.
| Brand | Type | Platform | Date | Performance vs. baseline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pennzoil Sponsorship | Sponsored content | YouTube | Apr 2026 | — |
| Toyota Motor Sponsorship | Sponsored content | YouTube | Mar 2026 | — |
| Ford Motor Sponsorship | Sponsored content | YouTube | Aug 2025 | — |
| Nvidia Corp. Sponsorship | Sponsored content | YouTube | May 2025 | — |
| Holley Sponsorship | Sponsored content | YouTube | May 2025 | — |
MotorTrend Channel is the YouTube and social extension of MotorTrend, one of the United States' longest-running automotive media properties, tracing its roots to a print magazine founded in 1949. Now operating under Warner Bros. Discovery's media umbrella, the channel functions as a broad-tent destination for American car culture, covering segments as varied as luxury performance vehicles and Porsche reviews to Toyota Tacoma off-road builds, drag racing, Mecum auction coverage, and muscle car features. Programming spans editorial car tests, long-form comparisons, event coverage for properties like HOT ROD Power Tour, and interview formats — including podcast-style conversations with figures like Jay Leno — giving the channel both journalistic authority and entertainment range.
The audience skews heavily male and meaningfully older, with the majority of viewers falling above 35, reflecting the demographics of established automotive enthusiasts rather than younger trend-chasers. That profile attracts category-native sponsors such as Pennzoil and performance parts brand Holley alongside major OEM deals with Toyota and Ford, while an Nvidia partnership signals the channel's growing coverage of automotive technology and software-defined vehicles. With engagement tracking above the category median and a multi-million subscriber base anchored in the domestic U.S. market, MotorTrend Channel occupies a durable, institutionally trusted position in automotive media — one increasingly bridging traditional gearhead content with the emerging EV and connected-car conversation.
MotorTrend Channel is a natural fit for automotive OEMs, aftermarket parts brands, performance lubricants, and adjacent technology companies targeting experienced, purchase-ready car enthusiasts. Content spans luxury vehicles, muscle cars, trucks, off-road builds, and auction coverage, with editorial formats ranging from head-to-head reviews and event promotion to podcast integrations — giving sponsors multiple placement types within a single, editorially credible environment. The audience is overwhelmingly domestic and English-speaking, with the United Kingdom and Canada adding meaningful English-language reach, and the gender skew is heavily male with a median age tilted toward the 35-plus bracket, pointing to a financially established cohort with demonstrated automotive spending power. YouTube posting cadence remains consistent and engagement runs above category median, a positive signal for sponsor message retention. The channel's verified deal history confirms blue-chip suitability: recent integrations include Pennzoil and Toyota Motor on YouTube within the past year, alongside Ford, performance-parts label Holley, and Nvidia — the last of which signals an emerging lane in automotive technology that opens doors for EV, software, and mobility-tech sponsors looking to reach a mainstream gearhead audience alongside traditional OEM and aftermarket partners.
Benchmark estimates for a creator at MotorTrend Channel's tier (Mega, 9.5M combined followers, United States). Pulled from CreatorDB's category benchmarks.
The CreatorDB Agency runs end-to-end influencer campaigns globally — shortlisting, outreach, contracting, and performance reporting. Talk to our team about building a campaign around creators in this niche.
The HOT ROD Power Tour is one of America's longest-running open-road driving events, where thousands of hot rods and custom cars cruise together across multiple states over several days. MotorTrend and HOT ROD operate under the same media group, and the MotorTrend Channel actively promotes the tour — with the 2026 edition already announced on the channel.
4x4 Garage is a MotorTrend content series centered on off-road builds, four-wheel-drive trucks, and heavy-use vehicle projects — sitting alongside the channel's coverage of Four Wheeler content. It draws from the same crowd that engages with MotorTrend's #Jeep, #ToyotaTacoma, and #offroad posts, which rank among the channel's most consistently used hashtags.
Nvidia partnered with MotorTrend for YouTube sponsored content in 2025, a pairing that reflects Nvidia's major push into automotive AI — its DRIVE platform powers in-vehicle computing systems across numerous production cars. For MotorTrend's gearhead audience, that angle bridges traditional car enthusiasm with the EV and autonomous-tech coverage the channel has been expanding.
MotorTrend+ is the brand's subscription streaming platform, hosting full seasons of original shows, exclusive long-form reviews, and content not available on the free YouTube channel. The YouTube channel functions as a highlight reel and discovery funnel that points dedicated fans toward the deeper content library.
The MotorTrend Car of the Year is one of the most recognized honors in the automotive industry, awarded annually since 1949 to the vehicle that best meets criteria including performance, value, safety, efficiency, and design. Winning it carries real commercial weight — manufacturers routinely use the title in national advertising campaigns.
Yes — Mecum Auctions content appears regularly across MotorTrend's social posts and is a recurring hashtag theme, spotlighting classic cars, collector muscle cars, and rare American iron going under the hammer. It's a natural fit given that more than half of MotorTrend's audience is over 45, skewing toward the collector-car-minded viewer.
Drag racing is one of MotorTrend's most consistent content formats, typically pitting two performance or muscle cars against each other in quarter-mile shootouts to settle real-world comparisons. The #dragrace hashtag is among the channel's most frequently used, and these head-to-head videos tend to drive strong viewer engagement.
Yes — MotorTrend magazine, founded in 1949 and long considered a cornerstone publication of American car culture, is the editorial origin of the broader MotorTrend media group that now runs the YouTube channel, MotorTrend+, and related brands including HOT ROD and Four Wheeler. The YouTube channel is effectively the video publishing arm of that same legacy automotive brand.
MotorTrend's confirmed YouTube sponsors include Pennzoil, Toyota Motor, Ford Motor, Nvidia, and Holley — a mix covering engine lubricants, major OEM automakers, automotive AI tech, and aftermarket performance parts. Holley in particular is a natural partner given MotorTrend's muscle car and hot rod content, since Holley is one of the most recognized names in the American performance aftermarket.
MotorTrend covers the full spectrum, but trucks, muscle cars, off-road rigs, and classic American iron feature most prominently in its social content alongside European performance cars like Porsche. Recent channel posts have also covered newer territory including the Toyota GR GT, the Genesis Magma GT3 concept, and BMW's latest electrified SUV, reflecting a genuinely broad editorial remit rather than a single lane.
Stats (followers, engagement, audience demographics, growth) are pulled live from the CreatorDB API covering YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. Bio and FAQ content is AI-assisted; news items are sourced from cited public press at generation time. Read the full methodology →
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