VIN manufacturer codes (WMI): what the first three characters tell you

What a WMI is

The first three characters of a VIN are the manufacturer identifier, the world manufacturer identifier or WMI. Under 49 CFR § 565.15(a) they uniquely identify the manufacturer and the type of the motor vehicle when the manufacturer is a high-volume one. A company with several plants and several vehicle types holds several identifiers, which is why a single make has many WMIs.

The identifiers are coordinated through SAE International on NHTSA’s behalf (§ 565.16(a)): a manufacturer may request a specific identifier, SAE checks that it does not conflict with one already assigned, and the manufacturer reports each identifier for each make and type of vehicle to NHTSA at least 60 days before the first VIN with it is attached to a car.

Real examples from NHTSA vPIC

NHTSA’s vPIC lists WMIs together with the manufacturer, the country and the vehicle type, and PlateVIN shows the list on each make page. The same make appears under different codes depending on the plant and the type:

• Toyota: 2T1 is a passenger car from Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, 4T1 a passenger car from Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, and JTD a passenger car from Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan.
• Honda: 1HG is a passenger car from American Honda Motor Co., 2HG a passenger car from Honda of Canada Mfg., and 3HG one from Honda de Mexico.
• Tesla: 5YJ is a passenger car and 7SA a multipurpose passenger vehicle, both from Tesla, Inc., in the United States.
• Ford: 1FA is a passenger car, 1FT a truck and 1FM a multipurpose passenger vehicle from Ford Motor Company in the United States.

The first character and the country

The identifiers above show a pattern: codes starting with 1, 4 and 5 are US plants, 2 is Canada and 3 is Mexico in these examples, and J is Japan. The leading character is allocated by region, but the rule itself defines the three characters only as a unique manufacturer code. Use the country in the vPIC record for the plant, and remember that it describes the factory: a car sold under one brand can be built by another company’s plant in another country.

NHTSA’s lists are of what manufacturers have registered and can contain oddities, so PlateVIN prints the country exactly as vPIC gives it and leaves the country blank where vPIC has none.

A 9 in the third position

A 9 in the third position always indicates a six-character manufacturer identifier, according to § 565.15(a). A low-volume manufacturer, one that builds fewer than 1,000 vehicles of a type a year, is identified by positions 1 to 3 together with positions 12 to 14, and only positions 15 to 17 are its own serial number. Trailer builders and small specialty manufacturers commonly use this scheme.

This is why vPIC also lists six-character identifiers for some small companies. PlateVIN’s make pages leave them out and list only the three-character WMIs, because in vPIC they mostly belong to small builders, such as trailer makers, whose names merely contain the make’s name.

Quellen

• 49 CFR § 565.15 Content requirements (eCFR)
• 49 CFR § 565.16 Reporting requirements (eCFR)
• NHTSA vPIC: WMIs for a manufacturer (API documentation)