Differences in VIN by Region: Europe / US-Japan / China 🌍🚗
The Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) is a standardized 17-character code used worldwide to uniquely identify vehicles. Although the format is generally consistent, different regions assign specific codes that indicate the country of manufacture.
1️⃣ Europe
European VINs follow the ISO 3779 standard. The first character (or first two) indicates the country of manufacture. Examples include:
- W: Germany
- S: United Kingdom
- V: France / Spain
- Y: Sweden / Finland
2️⃣ United States & Japan
In the US and Japan, VINs follow FMVSS 115 or ISO 3779 standards. The first character identifies the country, and the next two characters identify the manufacturer:
- 1, 4, 5: USA
- J: Japan
- K: Korea
- 2: Canada
The combination of WMI (first 3 characters) helps distinguish the manufacturer within the country.
3️⃣ China
China uses the national standard GB16735-2019, which references ISO 3779. Chinese VINs start with specific country codes:
- L: China
- H: China
- Followed by the manufacturer code assigned by the authorities
The rest of the VIN encodes vehicle type, model, and production sequence similar to ISO standards.