The first three characters of a VIN are the World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI). JM1 is assigned to Mazda, built in Japan (Asia). Any VIN that starts with JM1 decodes to Mazda. The sample VINs below are checksum-valid and start with JM1.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| WMI | JM1 (VIN positions 1–3) |
| Manufacturer | Mazda |
| Country of assembly | Japan |
| Region | Asia (from the first character, J) |
| Models seen here | MX-5 Miata |
Mazda test VINs · Decode a JM1 VIN →
After the JM1 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.
JM1 is a Mazda WMI. Every VIN beginning with JM1 was built by Mazda and decodes to that make.
The first character J places the manufacturer in Japan (Asia region) under the VIN standard.
No. They are synthetically generated but checksum-valid and use the real JM1 WMI, so a decoder returns Mazda. No real vehicle's VIN is used.