How the catalog is read

Everything on this site comes from one source: the October 2026 release of NHTSA's Product Information Catalog and Vehicle Listing (vPIC), read from the standalone database NHTSA publishes for download. This page explains what each figure means and where its limits are.

Scope

vPIC lists manufacturers that have submitted their identifiers and VIN decoding information to NHTSA, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That mainly covers vehicles made for, or imported into, the United States. A code used only in other markets is usually missing, and every count on this site ("the most", "the longest", "the newest") refers to this catalog only.

How to read a code page

The header shows the code in its place in the 17-character VIN, the makes and vehicle type NHTSA links to it, and the company holding it. The opening paragraph picks the code's strongest facts: a rank, a record or an attribute few other codes share. The chart lists every model named in the code's decoding rules, with a bar for each run of model years the rules cover. Below it come the plants named in the rules, the body classes and fuels, other codes held by the same company and codes for the same make held by other companies.

Definitions

WMI (World Manufacturer Identifier)

The first three characters of a VIN. When the third character is 9, the code is six characters long and continues in positions 12 to 14 (small manufacturers).

Holder

The manufacturer NHTSA records for the code. Large groups often hold codes through several companies, which are listed separately because the catalog does not link them.

Vehicle type

One of NHTSA's nine types, recorded once per code.

Registered in

The country NHTSA records for the code. It can differ from the plant countries.

Plant countries and plant locations

Countries and places named in the code's decoding rules (vPIC's "Plant Country" and "Plant City" values). Near-identical spellings of the same place within one code are merged; the most frequent spelling is shown.

Models

Distinct model names that appear in the decoding rules linked to the code. A model name shared by several codes is counted for each.

Model years

The span covered by the code's decoding rules. "Open" or a bar reaching 2027 means at least one rule has no end year; the charts stop at 2027.

Added to vPIC

The date the code's record was created in vPIC. Codes that existed before the catalog was built carry 2015 dates from the initial load, so the site gives an added date only from 2016 on.

Ranks

"Longest model list" ranks codes by the number of models in their rules, among all three-character codes with at least one model, or within one vehicle type or one country where stated. A maker's rank by codes counts its three- and six-character codes among all holders in the catalog. Ties share a rank.

Which codes and makers get a page

A three-character code gets its own page when its rules name at least five models across at least four model years, at least one plant country is named, its holder has a company name, and it has at least two distinctive facts (for example a top-50 model list, the most models for its make, plants in three or more countries, three or more makes, or being the only code for its make). That is 320 codes. Every other code appears in the hub lists and in the VIN checker. A manufacturer gets a page when it holds at least three three-character codes, or two with several makes, vehicle types or a long model list: 113 companies.

Personal names

Some small manufacturers are registered under a person's name. The site shows a holder's name only when it is clearly a company name (for example it contains Inc., LLC, Trailers or Manufacturing); otherwise the code is listed without a name. Six-character codes registered as "person doing business as company" follow the same rule.

Cleaning rules and their effect

• WMI code not 3 or 6 valid VIN characters (I, O, Q excluded) -> dropped: 2
• 6-character WMI whose third character is not 9 -> dropped: 0
• WMI without a manufacturer name -> dropped: 0
• WMI codes listed more than once (kept, each listing shown): 0
• decoding rule sets starting after model year 2027 -> ignored: 1
• plant-city spellings merged into a near-identical spelling within the same WMI: 335
• manufacturer names with no company marker (possible private individuals): name never shown, WMI kept in counts only: 560

VIN structure

The check-digit method (character values, position weights, remainder of 11), the model-year characters and the small-manufacturer rule come from 49 CFR Part 565, Vehicle Identification Number Requirements. The VIN checker applies them in your browser.

Source and licence

Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Product Information Catalog and Vehicle Listing (vPIC), October 2026 release. vPIC is a work of the U.S. Government and is in the public domain in the United States. The database was downloaded from vpic.nhtsa.dot.gov/downloads; that site's robots.txt returned "not found" when checked, so no path is excluded. WMI Codes is not affiliated with or endorsed by NHTSA.