Editing Vehicle identification number (section)

== History ==
VINs were first used in 1954 in the United States.<ref name="nhtsa1">{{cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs)|url=https://one.nhtsa.gov/Vehicle-Safety/Vehicle%E2%80%93Related-Theft/Vehicle-Identification-Numbers-(VINs)|access-date=2021-02-10|website=|publisher=National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) |location=US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161218160713/https://one.nhtsa.gov/Vehicle-Safety/Vehicle%E2%80%93Related-Theft/Vehicle-Identification-Numbers-(VINs) |archive-date=2016-12-18 |url-status=dead}}</ref> From 1954 to 1965, there was no accepted standard for these numbers, so different manufacturers and even divisions within a manufacturer used different formats. Many were little more than a serial number. Starting in January 1966 the US Government mandated that a 13-character VIN be used. This specification was phased in over several years. US manufacturers used them starting in January 1966 – by January 1, 1969, all cars sold in the US were required to have the 13 character VIN.{{clarify|reason=They were mandated in Jan 1966 but were required in Jan 1969?|date=December 2024}} The 1966 US specification only stated that the year of manufacture, engine type, and a six digit unique number (with that being the last six characters) were required -- the individual manufacturers could use the remaining five spaces for whatever they liked.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.justice.gov/archives/jm/criminal-resource-manual-1374-effective-date-motor-vehicle-identification-numbers |title=Effective Date - Motor Vehicle Identification Numbers |date=February 19, 2015 |id=CRM 1374 |publisher=Department of Justice |location=US}}</ref> This was not much better than what was in use by some US manufacturers before 1966.

In 1981, the [[National Highway Traffic Safety Administration]] of the United States standardized the format.<ref name="nhtsa1"/> It required all on-road vehicles sold to contain a 17-character VIN, which does not include the letters O (o), I (i), and Q (q) (to avoid confusion with numerals 0, 1, and 9). This was largely based on the ISO 3779 standard, but is more stringent. 

After the introduction of the ISO standard, the manufacturers which produced vehicles for the American market very quickly adjusted to this standard. ISO introduced recommendations for applying the VIN standard and its structure, and the VIN was also used in Europe. However, the sets of information contained in it were introduced gradually. For example, Volkswagen started to encode bigger chunks of information during 1995–1997, and the control digit during 2009–2015 for selected models from the group. The VIN control digit is also used, although not in all brand-models. In the European vehicles, it can be found e.g. in Audi A1.<ref>{{Cite web |title=VIN number in autoDNA - what does it mean? |url=https://www.autodna.com/vin-number |website=autoDNA |location=Poland |access-date=2022-09-08}}</ref>