The 3rd character of a VIN encodes the vehicle type or manufacturing division. It falls in the WMI (1–3) block of the 17-character VIN. Below is exactly what it means, with a real sample VIN highlighting the 3rd position.
Here that character is C; the full WMI 1GC marks this VIN as a Chevrolet.
The 3rd character closes the WMI. It typically encodes the vehicle type or manufacturing division — for instance passenger car, MPV, truck, or bus, or a specific brand/division within a large automaker.
Note: a manufacturer that builds fewer than 500 vehicles a year is assigned the digit 9 in this position, with a second identifier later in the VIN.
Decode a full VIN → · See all 17 positions →
← 2nd character · 4th character →
It encodes the vehicle type or manufacturing division. In the sample 1GCGTCEN9H1090847 the 3rd character is C.
It completes the WMI and usually indicates the vehicle type (car, truck, MPV, bus) or the manufacturing division.
A 9 in position 3 marks a low-volume manufacturer (under 500 vehicles/year), which uses extra identifier characters later in the VIN.