The invention discloses an automotive shifter testing device and method. The testing device comprises a rack having a shifter mounting platform, a clamping mechanism, a moving mechanism being arrangedat the rack to drive the clamping mechanism to move, and a lifting cylinder connected with the moving mechanism. The clamping mechanism consists of a clamping cylinder and two clamping claws that aredriven by the clamping cylinder and can move oppositely; and a piston rod of the clamping cylinder is linked to the body of the clamping cylinder. During the detection process, the clamping claws areable to simulate the actions of the human hands during the actual driving process to clamp a gear rod to carry out shifting and loosen the gear rod when the gear quits the gear under control of the lifting cylinder and the clamping cylinder, so that defects that the gear of the shifter does not return to the original position and the position offset occurs easily can be overcome effectively. Therefore, the working performance of the shifter is improved and the service life of the shifter is prolonged.