What does WMI stand for?

World Manufacturer Identifier. It is the first three characters of a VIN, assigned to a manufacturer by the national authority of the country where the vehicle is built. In the United States that is SAE on behalf of NHTSA.

Does the first character tell me where the car was made or where the brand is from?

Where it was made. A BMW assembled in Spartanburg, South Carolina starts with 5, not W, and a Volkswagen built in Puebla starts with 3. The badge and the country of assembly are two different things.

Why do some manufacturers have several WMIs?

Because the third character splits a maker's output by vehicle type or division, and because a manufacturer building in more than one country needs a code per country. Ford alone uses separate codes for US cars, US trucks, Canadian and Mexican production.

What if a manufacturer builds fewer than 500 vehicles a year?

Small-volume manufacturers are identified by a WMI whose third character is 9, with three further characters in positions 12 to 14 completing the identification. That is why low-volume and specialist builds decode differently from mass-market vehicles.

VIN positions 1 to 3

WMI: the first three characters of a VIN

The first three characters of a VIN are the World Manufacturer Identifier. They say who built the vehicle and in which country, before a single detail about the vehicle itself appears.

What each character does

Country or region of assembly

A digit or letter fixed by ISO 3780. It describes the plant's country, not the brand's home market.

Manufacturer

Identifies the maker within that country. Read it together with the first character, because the pair is what is actually assigned.

Vehicle type or division

Splits a manufacturer's output: passenger cars from trucks, or one division from another. A 9 here marks a small-volume manufacturer.

Country codes: the first character

The country of assembly, as fixed by ISO 3780. Within the letter blocks the second character narrows it to a specific country, which is what the decoder resolves for you.

First VIN character by country or region of assembly
Character	Built in	Notes
1, 4, 5	United States	Assembled in a US plant, whatever the badge on the grille says.
2	Canada	Ontario and Quebec plants building for GM, Ford, Stellantis, Honda and Toyota.
3	Mexico	Includes a large share of US-market Volkswagens, Nissans and pickups.
6	Australia	Local assembly, now historic. Australian plants closed to passenger cars in 2017.
7	New Zealand	Rare on US roads.
8	South America	Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.
9	Brazil	A major export base for Volkswagen, Fiat and GM.
A-H	Africa	South Africa (A) supplies US-market BMWs and Fords.
J-R	Asia	Japan (J), South Korea (K), China (L), India and South-East Asia (M to R).
S-Z	Europe	United Kingdom (S), Germany (S to W), Italy (Z), France and Spain (V), Sweden (Y).

Codes you will actually see

A sample of long-established WMIs on US roads. There are thousands more, and the decoder resolves whichever one your VIN starts with.

1FAFord passenger carsUnited States

1FTFord trucksUnited States

1G1Chevrolet passenger carsUnited States

1HGHondaUnited States

2HGHondaCanada

3VWVolkswagenMexico

5YJTeslaUnited States

JHMHondaJapan

JTDToyotaJapan

KMHHyundaiSouth Korea

KNAKiaSouth Korea

SAJJaguarUnited Kingdom

SALLand RoverUnited Kingdom

VF1RenaultFrance

VF3PeugeotFrance

WAUAudiGermany

WBABMWGermany

WDBMercedes-BenzGermany

WP0Porsche passenger carsGermany

WVWVolkswagenGermany

YV1VolvoSweden

ZFAFiatItaly

The WMI is only the first three characters. Positions 4 to 8 describe the vehicle itself, position 9 is a checksum, position 10 is the model year and the rest identify the plant and the individual vehicle. Decode a VIN to see all seventeen resolved at once.

Questions about WMIs

What does WMI stand for?: World Manufacturer Identifier. It is the first three characters of a VIN, assigned to a manufacturer by the national authority of the country where the vehicle is built. In the United States that is SAE on behalf of NHTSA.
Does the first character tell me where the car was made or where the brand is from?: Where it was made. A BMW assembled in Spartanburg, South Carolina starts with 5, not W, and a Volkswagen built in Puebla starts with 3. The badge and the country of assembly are two different things.
Why do some manufacturers have several WMIs?: Because the third character splits a maker's output by vehicle type or division, and because a manufacturer building in more than one country needs a code per country. Ford alone uses separate codes for US cars, US trucks, Canadian and Mexican production.
What if a manufacturer builds fewer than 500 vehicles a year?: Small-volume manufacturers are identified by a WMI whose third character is 9, with three further characters in positions 12 to 14 completing the identification. That is why low-volume and specialist builds decode differently from mass-market vehicles.

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