In 2008, NHTSA published a revision to 49 CFR 565 to increase the available unique Vehicle Identification Numbers available. In 2001, the characters switched over to numbers that coincide with the last digit of the year. Therefore, they started with “B” in 1981 and went through most of the alphabet (with a few exceptions). Many manufacturers used the letter “A” for 1980. The year 1981 was the first year the modern VIN system was mandated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). It is not uncommon for manufacturers to start building a model year in the second half of the previous year. This does not necessarily indicate the year it was manufactured. The 10 th character, which is found in the VIS, indicates the vehicle’s model year. There are three groups in the modern VIN system standard is the World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI), Vehicle Description Section (VDS) and Vehicle Identifier Section (VIS). Read about the Vehicle Identification Number system and where it is located on your car in more detail here. The characters used in the VIN consist of both capital letters and numbers except the letters “I”, “O”, and “Q” since these letters could be confused with the numbers zero and one.
The current Vehicle Identification Number, or VIN, that is utilized in the automotive industry is a unique 17-character code that the manufacturer assigns during production. Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) System