The first three characters of a VIN are the World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI). KM8 is assigned to Hyundai, built in South Korea (Asia). Any VIN that starts with KM8 decodes to Hyundai. The sample VINs below are checksum-valid and start with KM8.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| WMI | KM8 (VIN positions 1–3) |
| Manufacturer | Hyundai |
| Country of assembly | South Korea |
| Region | Asia (from the first character, K) |
| Models seen here | Tucson, Palisade, Kona |
Hyundai test VINs · Decode a KM8 VIN →
After the KM8 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.
KM8 is a Hyundai WMI. Every VIN beginning with KM8 was built by Hyundai and decodes to that make.
The first character K places the manufacturer in South Korea (Asia region) under the VIN standard.
No. They are synthetically generated but checksum-valid and use the real KM8 WMI, so a decoder returns Hyundai. No real vehicle's VIN is used.