Chinese scooter and ATV VIN prefixes, decoded

How a VIN is laid out

A full VIN is 17 characters and the layout is an international standard, so it reads the same on a Chinese scooter as on a pickup truck.

Reading the model year from position 10

Count ten characters in from the left. That character is the model year, and it uses the same alphabet as the engine family code — with I, O, Q, U and Z skipped so nothing can be confused with a digit.

Verified Chinese manufacturer prefixes

The table below lists every VIN prefix this registry has been able to tie to a factory with confidence. Each was taken from the NHTSA vPIC database and accepted only where the company NHTSA names matches a factory in our own reconciled register on a distinctive, non-generic word.

That filter is strict on purpose. An earlier, looser version of the same query returned five times as many codes, including matches produced by nothing more than a shared word like “machine” or a shared city name. Those were discarded. A short table of codes that are right is worth more than a long one that is not.

What a VIN prefix does not tell you

It names a registrant, not necessarily your engine builder. Some American importers register their own manufacturer code, so the prefix identifies them rather than the Chinese factory. Others use the factory's. You cannot tell which from the code alone.

Frames and engines can come from different places. On these machines the frame is often built by the assembler while the engine comes from a specialist engine works. The VIN follows the frame; the emission label follows the engine. When the two disagree, the emission label is the one that matters for parts.

A missing prefix is not proof of anything. If your code is not in the table, it may simply be one this registry has not confidently matched yet, rather than one NHTSA does not hold. Send it in and it will be checked.