Hyundai Chassis Number Decoder: Free Online Lookup
Enter a 17-character Hyundai India VIN to read the maker prefix, model family, model-year letter and month letter, then compare it with the car and its documents.
Hyundai Motor India builds every Creta, Venue, Verna, i20 and Exter sold here at Sriperumbudur near Chennai, and since 2025 at the former GM plant in Talegaon as well. Enter a Hyundai chassis number above and the decoder reads the prefix, the model family, the model-year letter and the month letter. It also tells you when a number is not an Indian Hyundai at all, which matters for the growing number of imported Tucsons, Ioniqs and Konas on the used market.
MAL and MB2: the Hyundai India prefixes
| Prefix | What the decoder shows | Notes |
|---|---|---|
MAL | Hyundai, India, car | The prefix on almost every Hyundai built in India since 1998 |
MB2 | Hyundai, India, SUV | A second Hyundai India allocation the decoder recognises |
KMH | Hyundai, South Korea | Korean-built cars such as the Ioniq 5, Kona Electric and Tucson |
MZB | Kia, India | Kia Seltos, Sonet and Carens are built at Anantapur under Kia's own prefix |
If a car sold to you as an Indian Hyundai carries KMH, it was imported. That is normal for the Ioniq 5 and the Kona Electric and unusual for a Creta or Venue. If it carries MZB, it is a Kia.
Positions 4 to 9: Hyundai model families
Hyundai does not publish its descriptor codes. The table lists the prefixes the decoder matches today. We built it from chassis numbers we have seen, not from a Hyundai document, so treat a match as a hint and check it against the badge and the RC:
| Positions 4 onward | Model family the decoder shows | Segment |
|---|---|---|
CR | Creta | Mid-size SUV, petrol or diesel |
VN | Venue or Exter | Compact SUV, petrol or diesel |
VR | Verna | Sedan, turbo petrol |
AA51CL | Eon, i10, Santro or Xcent | Small hatchback or compact sedan, petrol or CNG, manual |
The i20, Alcazar, Aura, Grand i10 Nios and Tucson are not yet in the table, so a VIN from one of those returns the maker and year but not a family. That is a gap in our data, not a problem with the car. The family also stops short of the variant: CR cannot separate a Creta E from an SX(O), and it cannot see the engine.
Hyundai year letter (position 10) and month letter (position 12)
Hyundai follows the ISO 3779 year letter in position 10: R for 2024, S for 2025, T for 2026. The chart lower on this page covers the full cycle.
The decoder reads a month letter from position 12 and shows it as "Manufacturing month":
| Letter | Month | Letter | Month |
|---|---|---|---|
A | January | G | July |
B | February | H | August |
C | March | J | September |
D | April | K | October |
E | May | L | November |
F | June | M | December |
Treat the month as a clue on a Hyundai. Hyundai India owner manuals place a VIN label on the driver-side centre pillar, which helps you match the number. The month itself comes from Form 22 and the RC's Date of Manufacture. When the letter and the paperwork disagree, the paperwork wins. The Hyundai manufacturing-date check explains how to use the documents at delivery.
Position 9 is not a check digit on an Indian VIN, so ignore a check-digit warning on an MAL number.
Worked example: a Creta chassis number
Illustrative only: MALCR81BLSUM12345 is made up and does not identify a real car.
| Characters | Position | What the decoder shows |
|---|---|---|
MAL | 1 to 3 | Hyundai, India |
CR81BL | 4 to 9 | Creta family, petrol or diesel |
S | 10 | 2025 model year |
U | 11 | Maker-defined, not decoded |
M | 12 | December, shown as manufacturing month |
12345 | 13 to 17 | Production sequence |
A 2025 model-year Creta with a December month letter delivered in February 2026 is a normal two-month gap. The same car delivered in September 2026 has been standing somewhere for nine months, and the Form 20 date will tell you whether the letter is right.
Where to read the VIN on a Hyundai
Hyundai India's owner manuals put the stamped number in different places by model, so match the manual to the car:
| Manual | Stamped VIN | Label or plate |
|---|---|---|
| Creta and Creta N Line, January 2024 onward | Floor under the right-front seat, beneath a cover | Certification label on the driver's or passenger-side centre pillar |
| i20 and i20 N Line | Floor under the front-right seat, under the slit in the carpet | Certification label on the centre pillar |
| Venue and Venue N Line, November 2025 onward | Engine-compartment frame and the back of the engine | VIN plate at the top-left of the dashboard, seen through the windscreen; certification label on the left centre pillar |
Lift the carpet flap, do not cut it. If the stamp is under a sealed cover on a used car, ask a Hyundai workshop to open it rather than forcing it yourself.
What a Hyundai VIN leaves out
- Variant and engine. E, S, SX and SX(O), and the 1.5 petrol versus the 1.5 diesel, are on the invoice and Form 22, not in the VIN.
- Colour. The paint code is on the centre-pillar label.
- Service and recall history. Hyundai India handles recalls through dealers by chassis number. The decoder cannot see whether the work was done.
- Registration and ownership. Use the RC check guide for VAHAN and mParivahan.
Before you pay for a Hyundai
- Copy the number from the stamp or the centre-pillar label, not from a WhatsApp forward.
- Decode it above. Confirm the prefix is
MAL, the family matches the car and the year letter matches the invoice. - Compare the month letter with the label and with Form 20 or the RC.
- For a used car, add the vehicle history checklist and the RC check before money changes hands.
Other makers encode their numbers differently. See the Maruti Suzuki, Tata and Mahindra pages for their prefixes and model families.
Anatomy of a VIN, character by character
Every position has a job, set by the ISO 3779 standard and U.S. federal rule 49 CFR Part 565. Tap a section to see what it encodes.
World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI)
The first character is the region or country of manufacture. The second is the manufacturer, and the third is usually the vehicle type or division. Low-volume makers (under 1,000 vehicles a year) use a 9 in position 3 and carry an extra code in positions 12–14.
Vehicle Descriptor Section (VDS)
Five characters the manufacturer uses to describe the vehicle: model line, series, body type, engine and restraint system. Each maker defines its own scheme, which is why decoding needs a manufacturer database like NHTSA's vPIC.
Check digit
Each character is converted to a number, multiplied by a positional weight, summed and divided by 11. The remainder, 0–9 or X for 10, must equal position 9. A mismatch means a typo or a VIN that deserves a closer look.
Model year
One letter or digit maps to the model year and repeats every 30 years. For North American cars and light trucks, a digit in position 7 points to 1980–2009 and a letter points to 2010–2039. The full chart is below.
Assembly plant
The manufacturer's code for the factory that built the vehicle. It's useful for recall campaigns, which are often limited to one plant and date range.
Production sequence
The serial number of this vehicle on the production line. Combined with the first eleven characters it makes the VIN unique. For low-volume makers, positions 12–14 complete the manufacturer code.
VIN model year chart
The 10th character of every VIN. The letters I, O, Q, U and Z and the digit 0 are never used here.
- A19802010
- B19812011
- C19822012
- D19832013
- E19842014
- F19852015
- G19862016
- H19872017
- J19882018
- K19892019
- L19902020
- M19912021
- N19922022
- P19932023
- R19942024
- S19952025
- T19962026
- V19972027
- W19982028
- X19992029
- Y20002030
- 120012031
- 220022032
- 320032033
- 420042034
- 520052035
- 620062036
- 720072037
- 820082038
- 920092039
Which cycle? On North American cars and light trucks, check position 7. If it's a number the vehicle is from 1980–2009, and if it's a letter it's from 2010–2039. The highlighted code is the current calendar year.
Questions, answered
Free Hyundai chassis number decoder for Indian-built cars. Read the MAL prefix, model family, year letter and a month clue, then match the VIN with the RC.
Can a Hyundai chassis number decoder prove that a car is genuine?
No. A decoder can test the VIN structure and return available vehicle attributes, but it cannot authenticate a stamped number, label or seller. Compare the full VIN on the vehicle with the official documents, and pause the purchase if any character differs.
Why might a Hyundai VIN return only limited vPIC information?
vPIC fields depend on the manufacturer data available for that VIN pattern. A blank field is not proof of tampering or a wrong car; use the returned information only as one cross-check against the physical VIN and documents.
Can I check an imported Hyundai VIN with this tool?
Yes, enter the complete 17-character VIN. Imported vehicles can have a different manufacturer identifier and their VIN locations or document trail may differ from Hyundai India models, so use the owner manual and registration documents that apply to that vehicle.
Does this Hyundai VIN checker confirm the exact variant or engine?
No. Available decode fields may help identify a vehicle family or body type, but they are not a confirmed trim, engine or transmission specification. Verify those details against the maker’s documents and the car itself.
Can I use a chassis-number result to check whether a Hyundai recall was completed?
No. A VIN decode is not a recall-completion record. Check the current campaign with Hyundai or an authorised Hyundai workshop, which can confirm the appropriate action for the vehicle.
What should I do if the Hyundai VIN is shorter than 17 characters?
Do not guess the missing characters. Recheck the stamped VIN and the correct documents for that vehicle; a partial number cannot support the same full structural comparison as a complete 17-character VIN.