World Manufacturer

Identifier

The first three digits uniquely describe the manufacturer of the

vehicle. There are many hundreds of assigned combinations.

Digit 1: Describes the region where the vehicle is made. A-H is in

Africa, J-R is Asia, S-Z is Europe, 1-5 is North America, 6-7 is Oceania
and 8-0 is South America.

Digit 2: Generally describes the manufacturer of the vehicle. For

VW this is usually ‘V’, but sometimes not. It is assigned in
conjunction with Digits 1 and 3, and may only make sense when the
whole 3-digit WMI is considered.

Digit 3: Generally describes the vehicle type. This might be a

passenger car, commercial, pickup, SUV, truck, motorcycle and so
on.

For Volkswagens, the most common 3-digit WMIs you’ll see are:

WVW - Volkswagen Cars

WVG - Volkswagen SUVs (Gelande)
WV1 - Volkswagen Commercials
WV2 - Volkswagen Bus, Van
WV3 - Volkswagen Trucks
VWV - Volkswagen Spain
AAV - Volkswagen South Africa
1VW - Volkswagen USA (cars)
1V1 - Volkswagen USA (commercials)
3VW - Volkswagen Mexico
8AW - Volkswagen Argentina
9BW - Volkswagen Brazil
WAU - Audi
TRU - Audi Hungary
93V - Audi Brazil
Vehicle Descriptor Section

The next group of six digits (4 to 9) in the VIN describe the exact
vehicle type, giving information on the model platform and body
style. Each maker assigns their own meaning to these six digits.
American makers, for example, use digit 9 as a ‘check digit’, but
European makers such as VW do not.

In Volkswagen’s case, meaning is only given to digits 7 and 8. Digits

4, 5, 6 and 9 are fill-in digits only and will contain the letter ‘Z’.

Digit 4, 5 and 6: ZZZ for VWs sold in Australia. For USA-market

VWs, these digits are used to give information on body and trim
styles, engine specs and restraint systems.

Digit 7 and 8: Volkswagen’s Vehicle Descriptor Section. Many of

them are consistent with VW’s old model type system, so you should
spot some familiar numbers here. The most common Volkswagen
combinations are:

11 - Beetle (Brazilian, Mexican, Nigerian)

13 - Scirocco 3
14 - Caddy Mk 1 (European Golf 1 pickup)
15 - Cabriolet (1980 Beetle, Golf 1)
16 - Jetta 1 and 2 (early)
16 - Beetle (2012-on)
17 - Golf 1
18 - Iltis
19 - Golf 2 (early)
1C - New Beetle (US market)
1E - Golf 3 Cabriolet
1F - Eos
1G - Golf and Jetta 2 (late)
1H - Golf and Vento 3
1J - Golf and Bora 4
1K - Golf and Jetta 5, 6
1T - Touran
1Y - New Beetle Cabriolet
24 - T3 Transporter Single/Double Cab Pickup
25 - T3 Transporter Van, Kombi, Bus, Caravelle
28 - LT Transporter 1
2D - LT Transporter 2
2E - Crafter
2H - Amarok
2K - Caddy, Caddy Maxi 3
30 - Fox (US model ex-Brazil)
31 - Passat 2
32 - Santana sedan
33 - Passat 2 Variant
3A - Passat 3, 4
3B - Passat 5
3C - Passat 6, Passat CC
3D - Phaeton
50 - Corrado (early)
53 - Scirocco 1 and 2
5K - Golf and Jetta 6
5M - Golf Plus
5N - Tiguan
5Z - Fox (Europe)
60 - Corrado (late)
6K - Polo Classic, Variant 3
6N - Polo 3
6R - Polo 5
6X - Lupo
70 - T4 Transporter Vans and Pickups
74 - Taro
7H - T5 Transporter
7L - Touareg 1
7M - Sharan
7P - Touareg 2
86 - Polo and Derby 1 and 2
87 - Polo Coupe
9C - New Beetle
9K - Caddy 2 Van (ex-SEAT Ibiza)
9N - Polo 4
9U - Caddy 2 Pickup (ex-Skoda Felicia)
AA - Up!

Digit 9: Z (fill-in digit)

Vehicle Identifier Section

The third and final set of digits, the group of eight from digit 10 to 17
inclusive, identifies the particular vehicle in question. They will
identify the model year, the exact place where the car was made,
and finally the unique serial number of that vehicle.

Digit 10: The model year. For Volkswagens, this is the year from 1
August to 31 July as before. The code begins with 1980, and assigns
a consecutive letter or number for each year (except that I, O, Q, U,
Z, and 0 are not used). The codes for year models are:

1980 - A 1990 - L 2000 - Y 2010 - A 2020 - L

1981 - B 1991 - M 2001 - 1 2011 - B 2021 - M
1982 - C 1992 - N 2002 - 2 2012 - C 2022 - N
1983 - D 1993 - P 2003 - 3 2013 - D 2023 - P
1984 - E 1994 - R 2004 - 4 2014 - E 2024 - R
1985 - F 1995 - S 2005 - 5 2015 - F 2025 - S
1986 - G 1996 - T 2006 - 6 2016 - G 2026 - T
1987 - H 1997 - V 2007 - 7 2017 - H 2027 - V
1988 - J 1998 - W 2008 - 8 2018 - J 2028 - W
1989 - K 1999 - X 2009 - 9 2019 - K 2029 - X

There are several logical consequences. There is no confusion

between 1 and I, 2 or Z, or O, Q and 0. The characters repeat the
sequence every 30 years, with ‘A’ beginning in 1980, 2010, 2040,
etc. And, when the numbers begin after Y, the number coincides
with the year.

Digit 11: This is the exact place where that Volkswagen was made.
VW has tried to assign specific characters for each of its factories,
although there have been some double-ups. If in doubt, consult Digit
1 which gives the region (see above). The codes are:

A - Ingolstadt, Germany
B - Brussels, Belgium
C - Chattanooga, USA
D - Bratislava, Slovakia
E - Emden, Germany
F - Ipiranga / Resende, Brazil
G - Graz, Austria
H - Hanover, Germany
K - Osnabrück, Germany
L - Lagos, Nigeria
M - Puebla, Mexico
N - Neckarsulm, Germany
P - Mosel, Germany
P - Anchieta, Brazil
R - Martorell, Spain
S - Salzgitter, Germany
T - Sarajevo, Yugoslavia (up to 1994)
T - Taubaté, Brazil
U - Uitenhage, South Africa
V - Westmoreland, USA (up to 1994)
V - Palmela, Portugal (from 1994)
W - Wolfsburg, Germany
X - Poznan, Poland
Y - Pamplona, Spain
1 - Győr, Hungary
2 - Anting, China
3 - Changchun, China
4 - Curitiba, Brazil
6 - Düsseldorf, Germany (Mercedes-Benz)
7 - Ludwigsfelde, Germany (Mercedes-Benz)
8 - Dresden, Germany
8 - General Pacheco, Argentina

Digits 12-17: Six digits, starting with 000001 for each vehicle of
the defined make, model, year and factory. This is the unique
identifying number for that vehicle.

LUIS ALBERTO MARTINEZ ZUÑIGA

VCS APPLICATION TECHNICIAN