The 11th character of a VIN encodes the factory (assembly plant) that built the vehicle. It falls in the Assembly plant block of the 17-character VIN. Below is exactly what it means, with a real sample VIN highlighting the 11th position.
Here the assembly-plant code is P.
The 11th character is the assembly-plant code — it identifies the specific factory where the vehicle was built. The mapping from character to plant is manufacturer-defined, so the same letter can mean different plants for different makes.
Two otherwise-identical vehicles from different factories differ at position 11, which is useful for tracing recalls and production batches to a plant.
Decode a full VIN → · See all 17 positions →
← 10th character · 12th character →
It encodes the factory (assembly plant) that built the vehicle. In the sample W1W4EBHY3RP794221 the 11th character is P.
The assembly-plant code — it identifies the factory that built the vehicle. The mapping is set by each manufacturer.
Position 11, right after the model-year code.
Yes — plant codes are manufacturer-specific, so the same character can mean different plants for different makes.