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Who made the vehicle? The first three characters of its VIN say.

Every VIN starts with a World Manufacturer Identifier. This site reads all 3,163 three-character codes and 9,849 small-manufacturer codes in NHTSA's catalog, with the models, model years and plants behind each one.

Where the first character points

Number of three-character codes per first character, and the country most of their holders are registered in.

1422US2199Canada3185Mexico4435US5627US615Australia7482US85Argentina920BrazilA15USB1USC1USH38ChinaJ104JapanK26S. KoreaL193ChinaM24ThailandN7TurkeyP2PhilippinesR102Hong KongS54UKT8SwitzerlandU14DenmarkV26FranceW81GermanyX7RussiaY23SwedenZ47Italy

Most models behind one code

Models named in each code's decoding rules

  1. 1HT Caterpillar, Chevrolet400
  2. 5A4 Load Rite357
  3. 1UJ Bighorn, Cyclone350
  4. JH2 Honda298
  5. JSA Kawasaki, Suzuki259
  6. 1HD Harley-Davidson, LiveWire216
  7. 1VR Vermeer198
  8. L9N Denago, Gotrax196
  9. 4X4 Forest River187
  10. 1TP Tennessee Trailers184

All profiled codes

Companies holding the most codes

Three- and six-character codes per registered company

  1. General Motors108
  2. FCA US49
  3. Ford Motor28
  4. Fleetwood Enterprises25
  5. Mercedes-Benz23
  6. Skyline22
  7. Suzuki Motor of America22
  8. American Honda Motor19
  9. Fleetwood Folding Trailer18
  10. Volvo Group North America16

All 113 profiled makers

Most recently added codes

CodeHolderVehicle typeAdded to vPIC
742Legacy Forged Trailers LLCtrailersOctober 13, 2026
5LCKearney Trailers InctrailersOctober 13, 2026
7ZVRen Zhong Motor IncmotorcyclesSeptember 9, 2026
73WVps Inclow-speed vehiclesSeptember 8, 2026
RX2Aeontek Vietnam Co., Ltd.motorcyclesAugust 27, 2026
72AVimo Mobility Inc.low-speed vehiclesAugust 25, 2026
73VDuramex Trailers LLCtrailersAugust 24, 2026
73UEvfmx USA LLClow-speed vehiclesAugust 20, 2026

How a VIN is put together

  1. What the first three characters of a VIN tell you
  2. How the VIN check digit is calculated
  3. Reading the model year from a VIN
  4. Small manufacturers and the 9 in position 3
  5. Which countries hold the most VIN prefixes
  6. Why one automaker holds dozens of VIN prefixes
  7. How many new VIN prefixes NHTSA adds each year

Data: NHTSA Product Information Catalog and Vehicle Listing (vPIC), October 2026 release. Scope: manufacturers that report to NHTSA, which mainly means vehicles sold in the United States. How the catalog is read.