Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)

The vehicle-identification number (abbreviation VIN is the internationally standardized 17-digit number for the clear identification of a vehicle. It comprises of a manufacturer identifier, e.g., W0L for Opel, WDB for Daimler-Benz, WVW for Volkswagen, WF0 for Ford or VF7 for Citroën, a manufacturer-specific code and a consecutive number that usually depends on the year of manufacture. Some manufacturers have been assigned several manufacturer identifiers.

Before 1981, there were no generally binding standards for this number. That is why vehicle manufacturers used individually assigned chassis numbers at that time. Today, the number has 17 characters. However, the letters I, O and Q are blocked because of the high risk of confusing them with the numbers 0 and 1.

The vehicle identification number replaces the former chassis number that was individually assigned by the vehicle manufacturer.

Example of a VIN for an Opel: W0L000051T2123456.

There are two different standards for the VIN. Manufacturers in the EC countries use the ISO 3779 standard.

Digit ISO 3779 North America

1 World Manufacturer Identifier World Manufacturer Identifier

2

3

4 Series and engine type Series, engine type and accessories

5

6

7

8

9 Check digit

10 Consecutive number Model year

11 Manufacturing plant

12 Consecutive number

13

14

15

16

17

Digit Meaning

1-3 World Manufacturer Identifier

4-6 Series: 450 = city coupé /convertible, 452 = roadster / roadster coupé, 454 = four-door

7 Body shape: 3 = coupé, 4 = convertible / roadster, 0 = four-door

8+9 Engine 00 = 30 kw Diesel, 01 = 70 kw Diesel, 30 = 37 kw petrol, 31 = 70 kw petrol, 32 = 45 kw petrol, 33 = 35 kw petrol, 34 = 60 kw petrol, 35 = 40 kw petrol

10 Steering: 1 = left-hand steering, 2 = right-hand steering

11 Manufacturing plant: J,K,L indicate several buildings in Smartville / Hambach (F)

12-17 Consecutive ascending number

The US VIN is used in the USA, Canada, Brazil, Korea, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. A mixture of US and European standards is used in Israel.

Digit Meaning

1-3 World Manufacturer Identifier

4 Series: A = 450 (city coupé), B = 452 (roadster / roadster coupé)

5 Body shape: J = 3 (coupé), K = 4 (convertible / roadster)

6-7 Engine: 00 = 30 kW Diesel, 30 = 37 kW petrol, 32 = 45 kW petrol, 33 = 35 kW petrol, 34 = 60 kW petrol, 35 = 40 kW petrol

8 Retaining systems: E = without side airbag, F = with side airbag

9 Check digit

10 Model year code: The year of manufacture is defined by the ISO 3779-1983 standard. The characters 123456789ABCDEFGHJKLMNPRSTVWXY always encode 30 years starting from 1971. A 3 therefore means 1973 or 2009. The characters I, O, Q, U have been omitted because of the risk of confusion.

11 Manufacturing plant: J,K,L indicate several buildings in Smartville / Hambach (F)

12-17 Consecutive ascending number

The first three digits of the VIN clearly identify the manufacturer according to the World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI). A manufacturer with an annual production rate of less than 500 vehicles uses the number 9 in the third place and the 12th to 14th digit of the VIN as the second part of the identification number. Some manufacturers use the 3rd digit of the VIN to encode the vehicle type (e.g., bus or truck), a company branch or both in combination. Example: The manufacturer General Motors, manufacturer identifier 1G, uses the code 1G1 for the Chevrolet brand (car), 1G2 for the Pontiac brand (car) and 1GC for Chevrolet again, however, this code is only assigned to trucks.

The first letter of the World Manufacturer Identifier indicates the region of the manufacturer. In practice, every individual identifier is assigned to the manufacturer country. Manufacturers with cross-border manufacturing facilities are marked accordingly.

WMI Region Remark

A-H Africa AA-AH = South Africa

J-R Asia J = Japan
KL-KR = South Korea
L = China
MA-ME = India
MF-MK = Indonesia
ML-MR = Thailand
PA-PE = Philippines
PL-PR = Malaysia

S-Z Europe SA-SM = United Kingdom
SN-ST, W = Germany
SU-SZ = Poland
TA-TH = Switzerland
TJ-TP = Czech Republic
TR-TV = Hungary
VA-VE = Austria
VF-VR = France
VS-VW = Spain
VX-V2 = Yugoslavia
XS-XW = CIS
X3-X0 = Russia
YA-YE = Belgium
YF-YK = Finland
YS-YW = Sweden
ZA-ZR = Italy

1-5 North America 1, 4, 5 = USA
2 = Canada
3 = Mexico

6-7 Australia/Oceania 6A-6W = Australia
7A-7E = New Zealand

8-0 South America 8A-8E = Argentina
8X-82 = Venezuela
9A-9E, 93-99 = Brazil
9F-9J = Columbia

The Society of Automotive Engineers assigns the WMI to countries and manufacturers. The list below shows a small selection of commonly used World Manufacturer Identifiers.

YES Isuzu

JF Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru)

JH Honda

JMB Mitsubishi

JMZ Mazda

JN Nissan

JS Suzuki

JT Toyota

KL Daewoo

KMH Hyundai

KN Kia

SAL Land Rover

SAJ Jaguar

SCC Lotus Cars

TRU Audi

VF1 Renault

VF3 Peugeot

VF7 Citroën

VSS Seat

WAU Audi

WBA BMW

WBS BMW M GmbH

WDB Mercedes-Benz

WKK Karl Kässbohrer plant

WME Smart

WMW MINI

WP0 Porsche

WVG Volkswagen (Auto5000)

WVW Volkswagen

WV1 Volkswagen commercial vehicles

WV2 Volkswagen

YK1 Saab

YS3 Saab

YV1 Volvo Cars

ZDF Ferrari Dino

ZFA Fiat

ZFF Ferrari

1F Ford Motor Company

1G General Motors

1GC Chevrolet

1GM Pontiac

1H Honda USA

1L Lincoln

1M Mercury

1N Nissan USA

1VW Volkswagen USA

1YV Mazda USA

2F Ford Motor Company Canada

2M Mercury

2G General Motors Canada

2G1 Chevrolet Canada

2G1 Pontiac Canada

2HM Hyundai Canada

3F Ford Motor Company Mexico

3G General Motors Mexico

3VW Volkswagen Mexico

9BW Volkswagen Brazil

4F Mazda USA

4M Mercury

4S Subaru-Isuzu Automotive

4US BMW USA

5L Lincoln

6F Ford Motor Company Australia

6H General Motors-Holden

6MM Mitsubishi Motors Corporation Australia

6T1 Toyota Australia

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