In the context of Chinese innovation-driven strategy, the role of suppliers has been attracting much attention. Since not every supplier can contribute to the buyer’s innovation, scientifically selecting an innovative supplier is highly valued by decision-makers from the new energy vehicle (NEV) manufacturers. This paper focuses on proposing a novel decision framework in the context of collaborative innovation, which helps NEV manufacturers to select an innovative supplier who can work hand in hand with them to enhance their innovation performance. First, a novel capability-willingness-risk (C-W-R) evaluation indicator system is established, considering supply risk from a multi-proximity perspective which is tightly tied to collaborative innovation performance, only considered from geographical proximity in previous supplier selection research. Then a hybrid fuzzy-symmetrical multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) model is proposed that integrates fuzzy linguistic sets, best–worst method (BWM), prospect theory (PT) and VIKOR. With this approach, a final ranking is obtained for innovative supplier selection by NEV manufacturers in China. Moreover, sensitivity analysis and comparison analysis illustrate the proposed decision framework’s effectiveness and reliability and dig deep into the buyer−supplier collaborative innovation. Finally, some managerial suggestions are given for supplier selection from the standpoint of NEV manufacturers.

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