|
I noticed this 6 years ago when I took delivery of my 2011 X3. Its VIN also starts with WBA whereas I had always understood that US-built cars start with "1". Looking into it at the time I found out the first 1-to-3 characters don't always mean the country the vehicle was built in. It can also refer to the location of the headquarters of the car company - which in this case is Germany hence the VIN starting with "W".
I've also noticed this with several Volvo's we've owned over the years. Despite knowing (for example) our long departed and missed C30 was built in Ghent Belgium (which has a YA or YB country code), its VIN started with YV - indicating Sweden.
You learn something new every day.
Tony
|