- Latest available (Revised)
- Original (As adopted by EU)
Commission Regulation (EU) No 19/2011Show full title
Commission Regulation (EU) No 19/2011 of 11 January 2011 concerning type-approval requirements for the manufacturer’s statutory plate and for the vehicle identification number of motor vehicles and their trailers and implementing Regulation (EC) No 661/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning type-approval requirements for the general safety of motor vehicles, their trailers and systems, components and separate technical units intended therefor (Text with EEA relevance)
You are here:
What Version
More Resources
Revised version PDFs
- Revised 11/04/20120.65 MB
Legislation originating from the EU
When the UK left the EU, legislation.gov.uk published EU legislation that had been published by the EU up to IP completion day (31 December 2020 11.00 p.m.). On legislation.gov.uk, these items of legislation are kept up-to-date with any amendments made by the UK since then.
This item of legislation originated from the EU
Legislation.gov.uk publishes the UK version. EUR-Lex publishes the EU version. The EU Exit Web Archive holds a snapshot of EUR-Lex’s version from IP completion day (31 December 2020 11.00 p.m.).
Status:
This is the original version as it was originally adopted in the EU.
This legislation may since have been updated - see the latest available (revised) version
2. Composition of the VIN
2.1.The VIN shall consist of three sections:
(a)
the world manufacturer identifier (WMI);
(b)
the vehicle descriptor section (VDS);
(c)
the vehicle indicator section (VIS).
2.2.The WMI shall consist of a code assigned to the vehicle manufacturer to enable him to be identified.
2.2.1.
The code shall comprise three alphanumeric characters, capital roman letters or Arabic numerals, which shall be assigned by the competent authority in the country where the manufacturer has his principal place of business.
2.2.2.
The competent authority shall act in agreement with the international organisation referred to in Standard ISO 3780: 2009 on ‘Road vehicles — World manufacturer identifier (WMI) code’.
2.2.3.
Where the manufacturer’s global production is less than 500 vehicles per annum, the third character shall always be ‘9’. In order to identify such manufacturers, the competent authority referred to in point 2.2.1 shall assign the third, the fourth and the fifth character of the VIS.
2.3.The VDS shall consist of six alphanumeric characters, capital roman letters or Arabic numerals, which shall serve to indicate the general characteristics of the vehicle. Where the manufacturer does not use one or more of the six characters, the unused spaces shall be filled in with alphanumeric characters at the manufacturer’s discretion in order that the total number of characters required shall be 6.
2.4.The VIS shall consist of eight alphanumeric characters, capital Roman letters or Arabic numerals, of which the last four shall consist of digits only.
It shall provide, in conjunction with the WMI and the VDS, clear identification of a particular vehicle. Any unused space shall be filled in with the digit ‘0’ in order that the total number of characters required shall be 8.
2.5.The height of the characters of the VIN stamped on the chassis shall be no less than 7 mm.
2.6.There shall be no space between the characters.
2.7.The use of the letters ‘I’, ‘O’ or ‘Q’ shall not be permitted.
2.8.The beginning and the end of the VIN shall be limited by one symbol at the choice of the manufacturer neither symbol should be a Roman capital letter nor an Arabic numeral.
2.8.1.
This provision may be waived when the VIN is marked on a single line.
2.8.2.
When the VIN is marked on two lines, this provision shall apply to each line.
Options/Help
Print Options
PrintThe Whole Regulation
PrintThe Whole Annex
PrintThe Whole Part
PrintThis Division only
Legislation is available in different versions:
Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area.
Original (As adopted by EU): The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was first adopted in the EU. No changes have been applied to the text.
Opening Options
Different options to open legislation in order to view more content on screen at once
More Resources
Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
- the original print PDF of the as adopted version that was used for the EU Official Journal
- lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
- all formats of all associated documents
- correction slips
- links to related legislation and further information resources
More Resources
Use this menu to access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
- the original print PDF of the as adopted version that was used for the print copy
- correction slips
Click 'View More' or select 'More Resources' tab for additional information including:
- lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
- confers power and blanket amendment details
- all formats of all associated documents
- links to related legislation and further information resources
All content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. This site additionally contains content derived from EUR-Lex, reused under the terms of the Commission Decision 2011/833/EU on the reuse of documents from the EU institutions. For more information see the EUR-Lex public statement on re-use.