CFR > Title 49 - Transportation > SUBTITLE B—Other Regulations Relating to Transportation > CHAPTER V—NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (Parts 501–599) > PART 565—VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER (VIN) REQUIREMENTS > SUBPART C—Alternative VIN Requirements In Effect for Limited Period (§565.20 to §565.26) > 565.25—Content requirements.

565.25—Content requirements.

The VIN shall consist of four sections of characters which shall be grouped accordingly:
(a) The first section shall consist of three characters that occupy positions one through three (1-3) in the VIN. This section shall uniquely identify the manufacturer, make and type of the motor vehicle if its manufacturer produces 500 or more motor vehicles of its type annually. If the manufacturer produces less than 500 motor vehicles of its type annually, these characters along with the third, fourth and fifth characters of the fourth section shall uniquely identify the manufacturer, make and type of the motor vehicle. These characters are assigned in accordance with § 565.26(a).
(b) The second section shall consist of five characters, which occupy positions four through eight (4-8) in the VIN. This section shall uniquely identify the attributes of the vehicle as specified in Table VIII. For passenger cars, and for multipurpose passenger vehicles and trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating of 4536 kg (10,000 lb) or less, the first and second characters shall be alphabetic and the third and fourth characters shall be numeric. The fifth character may be either alphabetic or numeric. The characters utilized and their placement within the section may be determined by the manufacturer, but the specified attributes must be decipherable with information supplied by the manufacturer in accordance with § 565.26(c). In submitting the required information to NHTSA relating to gross vehicle weight rating, the designations in Table IX shall be used. The use of these designations within the VIN itself is not required. Tables VIII and IX follow:
Table VIII—Type of Vehicle and Information Decipherable
Passenger car: Line, series, body type, engine type and restraint system type.
Multipurpose passenger vehicle: Line, series, body type, engine type, gross vehicle weight rating.
Truck: Model or line, series, chassis, cab type, engine type, brake system and gross vehicle weight rating.
Bus: Model or line, series, body type, engine type, and brake system.
Trailer, including trailer kits and incomplete trailer: Type of trailer, body type, length and axle configuration.
Motorcycle: Type of motorcycle, line, engine type, and net brake horsepower.
Incomplete Vehicle other than a trailer: Model or line, series, cab type, engine type and brake system.
Note to Table VIII: Engine net brake horsepower when encoded in the VIN shall differ by no more than 10 percent from the actual net brake horsepower; shall in the case of motorcycle with an actual net brake horsepower of 2 or less, be not more than 2; and shall be greater than 2 in the case of a motorcycle with an actual brake horsepower greater than 2.
Table IX—Gross Vehicle Weight Rating Classes
Class A—Not greater than 1360 kg. (3,000 lbs.)
Class B—Greater than 1360 kg. to 1814 kg. (3,001-4,000 lbs.)
Class C—Greater than 1814 kg. to 2268 kg. (4,001-5,000 lbs.)
Class D—Greater than 2268 kg. to 2722 kg. (5,001-6,000 lbs.)
Class E—Greater than 2722 kg. to 3175 kg. (6,001-7,000 lbs.)
Class F—Greater than 3175 kg. to 3629 kg. (7,001-8,000 lbs.)
Class G—Greater than 3629 kg. to 4082 kg. (8,001-9,000 lbs.)
Class H—Greater than 4082 kg. to 4536 kg. (9,001-10,000 lbs.)
Class 3—Greater than 4536 kg. to 6350 kg. (10,001-14,000 lbs.)
Code of Federal Regulations 211
Class 4—Greater than 6350 kg. to 7257 kg. (14,001-16,000 lbs.)
Class 5—Greater than 7257 kg. to 8845 kg. (16,001-19,500 lbs.)
Class 6—Greater than 8845 kg. to 11793 kg. (19,501-26,000 lbs.)
Class 7—Greater than 11793 kg. to 14968 kg.(26,001-33,000 lbs.)
Class 8—Greater than 14968 kg. (33,001 lbs. and over).
(c) The third section shall consist of one character, which occupies position nine (9) in the VIN. This section shall be the check digit whose purpose is to provide a means for verifying the accuracy of any VIN transcription. After all other characters in VIN have been determined by the manufacturer, the check digit shall be calculated by carrying out the mathematical computation specified in paragraphs (c) (1) through (4) of this section.
(1) Assign to each number in the VIN its actual mathematical value and assign to each letter the value specified for it in Table X, as follows:
Table X—Assigned Values
A = 1
B = 2
C = 3
D = 4
E = 5
F = 6
G = 7
H = 8
J = 1
K = 2
L = 3
M = 4
N = 5
P = 7
R = 9
S = 2
T = 3
U = 4
V = 5
W = 6
X = 7
Y = 8
Z = 9
(2) Multiply the assigned value for each character in the VIN by the position weight factor specified in Table XI, as follows:
Table XI—VIN Position and Weight Factor
1st 8
2d 7
3d 6
4th 5
5th 4
6th 3
7th 2
8th 10
9th (check digit)
10th 9
11th 8
12th 7
13th 6
14th 5
15th 4
16th 3
17th 2
(3) Add the resulting products and divide the total by 11.
(4) The numerical remainder is the check digit. If the remainder is 10 the letter “X” shall be used to designate the check digit. The correct numeric remainder, zero through nine (0-9) or the letter “X,” shall appear in VIN position nine (9).
(5) A sample check digit calculation is shown in Table XII as follows:
Table XII—Calculation of a Check Digit
VIN Position 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Sample VIN 1 G 4 A H 5 9 H ... 5 G 1 1 8 3 4 1
Assigned Value 1 7 4 1 8 5 9 8 ... 5 7 1 1 8 3 4 1
Weight Factor 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 10 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
Multiply Assigned value times 8 49 24 5 32 15 18 80 0 45 56 7 6 40 12 12 2
Add products: 8 49 24 5 32 15 18 80 0 45 56 7 6 40 12 12 2 = 411.
Divide by 11: 411/11 = 37 4/11.
The remainder is 4; this is the check digit to be inserted in position nine (9) of the VIN.
(d) The fourth section shall consist of eight characters, which occupy positions ten through seventeen (10-17) of the VIN. The last five (5) characters of this section shall be numeric for passenger cars and for multipurpose passenger vehicles and trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating of 4536 kg. (10,000 lbs.) or less, and the last four (4) characters shall be numeric for all other vehicles.
(1) The first character of the fourth section shall represent the vehicle model year. The year shall be designated as indicated in Table XIII as follows:
Table XIII—Year Codes for VIN
Year Code
1980 A
1981 B
1982 C
1983 D
1984 E
1985 F
1986 G
1987 H
1988 J
1989 K
1990 L
1991 M
1992 N
1993 P
1994 R
1995 S
1996 T
1997 V
1998 W
1999 X
2000 Y
2001 1
2002 2
2003 3
2004 4
2005 5
2006 6
2007 7
2008 8
2009 9
2010 A
2011 B
2012 C
2013 D
(2) The second character of the fourth section shall represent the plant of manufacture.
(3) The third through the eighth characters of the fourth section shall represent the number sequentially assigned by the manufacturer in the production process if the manufacturer produces 500 or more vehicles of its type annually. If the manufacturer produces less than 500 motor vehicles of its type annually, the third, fourth and fifth characters of the fourth section, combined with the three characters of the first section, shall uniquely identify the manufacturer, make and type of the motor vehicle and the sixth, seventh, and eighth characters of the fourth section shall represent the number sequentially assigned by the manufacturer in the production process.