The first three characters of a VIN are the World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI). 3MZ is assigned to Mazda, built in Mexico (North America). Any VIN that starts with 3MZ decodes to Mazda. The sample VINs below are checksum-valid and start with 3MZ.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| WMI | 3MZ (VIN positions 1–3) |
| Manufacturer | Mazda |
| Country of assembly | Mexico |
| Region | North America (from the first character, 3) |
| Models seen here | Mazda3 |
Mazda test VINs · Decode a 3MZ VIN →
After the 3MZ WMI, positions 4–8 describe the model, body and engine; position 9 is the mod-11 check digit; position 10 is the model year; position 11 is the assembly plant; and positions 12–17 are the serial number. See the full 17-digit VIN format.
3MZ is a Mazda WMI. Every VIN beginning with 3MZ was built by Mazda and decodes to that make.
The first character 3 places the manufacturer in Mexico (North America region) under the VIN standard.
No. They are synthetically generated but checksum-valid and use the real 3MZ WMI, so a decoder returns Mazda. No real vehicle's VIN is used.