France · VIN notes & WMI codes
Renault VIN decoder
Renault's core WMI is VF1, a French code that Germany's Federal Motor Transport Authority lists under Renault S.A.S. of Boulogne-Billancourt. Renault is the core brand of Renault Group, which also owns Dacia, Alpine and Mobilize. Its current range includes the Clio, the electric Renault 5 E-Tech, the Mégane E-Tech and Scénic E-Tech, and SUVs such as the Duster and Boreal built in Turkey.
Enter all 17 characters. For vehicles built for other markets, expect the maker and region rather than full specifications.
- 2 WMI codes in vPIC
- origin: France
- no U.S. recall or complaint data (not sold there since 1995)
Two plants show how spread out production is. Douai in northern France builds the Renault 5, Mégane and Scénic E-Tech models as well as the Alpine A290; Bursa in Turkey, owned 51% by Renault and 49% by the OYAK group, builds the Clio, Duster and Boreal. The Flins plant west of Paris stopped assembling cars in March 2024 and has been turned into the Refactory, a site for reconditioning and recycling vehicles.
Renault left the U.S. market in the late 1980s. It sold cars there through its partnership with American Motors, and after Chrysler bought AMC in 1987 the French-built Medallion was sold as a Renault for 1988 and as an Eagle for 1989. No Renault has been sold in the U.S. since, so this page carries no NHTSA recall or complaint statistics, and our decoder can identify only the manufacturer of a modern Renault. The notes below explain what the VIN shows and where to check recalls in Europe.
The World Manufacturer Identifier is the first three characters of the VIN. NHTSA’s vPIC database decodes 2 WMIs to Renault; this is the complete list, with the manufacturer name, country and vehicle type vPIC records for each.
| WMI | Manufacturer (vPIC) | Country | Vehicle type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1XM | FCA US LLC | United States | Passenger Car |
| VF1 | RENAULT GROUP | France | Passenger Car |
See the WMI code guide for how the codes are assigned.
Which WMI codes appear on Renault VINs?
Both NHTSA's vPIC database and the manufacturer list of Germany's Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) tie VF1 to Renault. vPIC lists it under Renault Group with the makes Eagle and Renault, a trace of the Medallion era. It also lists KNM, held by Renault Samsung Motors in South Korea, but with the make Nissan, so a KNM VIN is not a Renault-branded vehicle.
| WMI | Manufacturer (source) | Country | Vehicle type |
|---|---|---|---|
| VF1 | Renault Group (vPIC); Renault S.A.S., Boulogne-Billancourt (KBA) | France | Passenger car (makes: Eagle, Renault) |
| VS5 | Fabricación de Automóviles Renault de España SA, Madrid (KBA) | Spain | Not stated |
| KNM | Renault Samsung Motors Co., Ltd. (vPIC) | South Korea | MPV (make: Nissan) |
Renault Trucks, a separate company, holds its own codes such as VF6, and Dacia vehicles use Romanian codes; see the Dacia VIN decoder. The WMI code guide explains how prefixes are allocated.
What can you read from a Renault VIN?
Less than from a U.S.-market VIN. Until July 2022, EU rules mirrored ISO 3779, which lets the manufacturer define positions 4 to 9 and does not require a check digit. Since 6 July 2022, new EU vehicle types must carry a check digit in position 9, but a model-year code is still optional. The U.S. rules of 49 CFR Part 565 do not apply to Renault's European cars, so an older Renault VIN may fail a check-digit test, and position 10 should not be read as a model year without confirmation.
Public recall notices reflect this. None of the 81 Renault vehicle recall notices published on RappelConso, the French government recall site, quotes a full VIN; they typically identify affected cars by production dates and EU type-approval numbers instead. For the full story on reading such VINs, see the European VIN decoding guide.
Where is the VIN on a Renault?
Renault's online user manual describes a manufacturer's plate that carries the identification number together with the EC type-approval number, permitted weights and paint code, and says some of this information is also given on a separate marking. It states that the presence and location of this information depend on the vehicle, so check the handbook for your model or our guide to where to find your VIN. The registration certificate also shows the VIN.
How do you check Renault recalls?
NHTSA's recall search lists Renault only for model years up to 1989, such as campaign 91V037000 for the 1989 Renault Medallion, filed by Chrysler. Our recall lookup uses that NHTSA data, so for a modern Renault use:
- France: RappelConso (rappel.conso.gouv.fr), the government recall site, which lists Renault campaigns with production dates and type-approval numbers.
- United Kingdom: the GOV.UK service Check if a vehicle, part or accessory has been recalled, which looks cars up by registration number or by make, model and year.
- Germany: the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt recall database (Rückrufdatenbank), linked from kba.de.
- Anywhere: a Renault dealer can check open campaigns against the full VIN.
Can I check Renault recalls on this site?
Not for modern cars. Our recall data comes from NHTSA, which covers vehicles sold in the U.S., and Renault has not sold cars there since the late 1980s. Use RappelConso in France, the GOV.UK recall checker in the UK, the KBA recall database in Germany, or a Renault dealer.
Why does NHTSA's vPIC list Eagle as a VF1 make?
Because the French-built Medallion was sold in the U.S. as a Renault for 1988 and as an Eagle for 1989, after Chrysler bought American Motors. Both makes therefore appear under the VF1 code in vPIC.
Will the decoder show my Renault's model?
Probably not. NHTSA's vPIC database recognises VF1 as a Renault code but is unlikely to return model data for a European Renault. You will get the manufacturer and country, plus a check-digit result that may not be meaningful for an older European car.
Does a Renault VIN show accident or ownership history?
No. A VIN identifies the vehicle and how it was built. Ownership, accident and mileage records are held by registration authorities and history providers, and this site does not include them.
Brands mentioned in the notes above, then other European brands, each with its own VIN notes and WMI list.
- Dacia (no NHTSA model pages) Romania
- Alfa Romeo (6) Italy · 34 recall campaigns
- Aston Martin (21) United Kingdom · 35 recall campaigns
- Audi (66) Germany · 214 recall campaigns
- Bentley (29) United Kingdom · 55 recall campaigns
- BMW (333) Germany · 487 recall campaigns