WMI (World Manufacturer Identifier)
The first three characters of a VIN; identifies the manufacturer and country of origin.
The World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI) is the three-character prefix at the start of every VIN. The first character encodes the geographic region of manufacture (1, 4 or 5 for the United States, 2 for Canada, 3 for Mexico, J for Japan, K for South Korea, W for Germany, Z for Italy, and so on). The first two characters together narrow the country — for example JH4 starts with J for Japan, while JN1 also starts with J but identifies a Nissan-built vehicle.
WMI codes are assigned by SAE International on behalf of the ISO. Manufacturers producing fewer than 1,000 vehicles per year share a single WMI of 9 as the third character; larger manufacturers get a unique three-character code that maps directly to their corporate identity. Common examples: 1HG (Honda USA), 1FT (Ford trucks USA), JTD (Toyota Japan), WBA (BMW Germany), ZFF (Ferrari Italy).
If the WMI starts with an unfamiliar character pattern, it usually means the vehicle was built for a non-US market — an important consideration for importers since title and emissions paperwork differs by region of origin.