9 prefixes
Kia VIN decoder
Put a Kia VIN in and get the full NHTSA specification plus any open recalls. Below, every manufacturer prefix a Kia can start with.
Where a Kia VIN starts
The first three characters are the World Manufacturer Identifier. Kia vehicles carry 9 of them, spread across 3 countries of manufacture, because the same model can be built on more than one continent. The prefix tells you which plant lineage built the car before you decode anything else.
| Prefix | Manufacturer of record | Vehicle type | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3KM | KIA MEXICO S.A. DE C.V. | Multipurpose Passenger Vehicle (MPV) | MEXICO |
| 3KP | KIA MEXICO S.A. DE C.V. | Passenger Car | MEXICO |
| 5NP | HYUNDAI-KIA AMERICA TECHNICAL CENTER INC (HATCI) | Passenger Car | UNITED STATES (USA) |
| 5XX | KIA GEORGIA, INC | Passenger Car | UNITED STATES (USA) |
| 5XY | KIA GEORGIA, INC | Multipurpose Passenger Vehicle (MPV) | UNITED STATES (USA) |
| KNA | KIA CORPORATION | Passenger Car | SOUTH KOREA |
| KND | KIA CORPORATION | Multipurpose Passenger Vehicle (MPV) | SOUTH KOREA |
| KNJ | KIA MOTORS (FORD IMPORTS) | Passenger Car | SOUTH KOREA |
| U5Y | HYUNDAI-KIA AMERICA TECHNICAL CENTER INC (HATCI) | Passenger Car | UNITED STATES (USA) |
What Kia stamps them on
- Passenger Car6
- Multipurpose Passenger Vehicle (MPV)3
Current Kia models
Models NHTSA lists for the most recent complete model year.
- Carnival
- EV6
- EV9
- K4
- K5
- Miami
- Niro
- Seltos
- Sorento
- Soul
- Sportage
- Tekiar
- Telluride
Other makes
Prefix table from NHTSA vPIC, built 2026-08-09. 888 prefixes across the site.