What is WMI (World Manufacturer Identifier)?

The first three characters of the VIN are the World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI).

The first character of the WMI is region of manufacture.

from 1 to 5 - North America
from S to Z - Europe
from A to H - Africa
from J to R - Asia
6,7 - Oceania
8,9,0 - South America

The second character in combination with first is country of manufacture. For example:

from 10 to 19 - USA
from 2A to 2W - Canada
from 3A to 3W - Maxico
from W0 to W9 - Germany


The third character is used by the vehicle manfacturer to identify the vehicle type (truck, bus etc.)


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