Every Kia Sportage (2017–2022) carries a 17-character VIN that begins with the KND WMI. The Sportage is a gas SUV; this page shows what each character of a Kia Sportage VIN means and gives 4 checksum-valid sample VINs you can drop straight into test fixtures. Synthetic — not real: no scraping, no real-owner data. The generator below is pre-filtered to the Sportage.
Each sample below is built from the real KND WMI and the Sportage's descriptor, so it decodes to a Kia Sportage of the right model year:
Have a real Kia Sportage VIN? Decode it →
Worked on the sample KNDPM3AC0H5093081 — a 2017 Kia Sportage:
| Position | Section | Value | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–3 | WMI | KND | Marks the VIN as Kia, built in South Korea |
| 4–8 | VDS | PM3AC | Descriptor for the Sportage — SUV body, gas powertrain |
| 9 | Check digit | 0 | Mod-11 checksum over the other 16 characters |
| 10 | Model year | H | Code H = 2017 |
| 11 | Plant | 5 | Assembly-plant code |
| 12–17 | Serial | 093081 | Sequential production number |
Positions 1–3 of every Kia Sportage VIN read KND — the World Manufacturer Identifier that marks the vehicle as Kia, assembled in South Korea (Asia). After the WMI, positions 4–8 (PM3AC in our seed) describe the Sportage itself; see the full 17-digit format.
Position 10 encodes the model year. For the Sportage, 2017 is code H and 2022 is code N. See the 2022 year code or the check-digit math.
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A Kia Sportage VIN is 17 characters starting with the KND WMI, for example KNDPM3AC0H5093081. Positions 4–8 describe the Sportage, position 9 is the check digit, position 10 is the model year, and 12–17 are the serial number.
Read it left to right: KND is the Kia WMI, positions 4–8 are the Sportage descriptor, position 9 verifies the VIN via a mod-11 checksum, position 10 gives the year, position 11 the plant, and 12–17 the serial. Paste any VIN into the decoder to do it automatically.
The Sportage in our seed uses the KND WMI (South Korea). Any VIN beginning with KND decodes to Kia.
No. They are synthetically generated but checksum-valid, use the real Kia KND WMI, and carry the Sportage's descriptor and a valid year code — so a decoder returns a Kia Sportage. No real vehicle's VIN is used.