VIN Decoder · Volvo
Volvo VIN Decoder: YV1, YV4, LVY and LYV Codes
YV1 says Sweden. An XC40 with YV1 was built in Ghent, though, and a 2024 EX30 with YV1 came from Zhangjiakou in China. Meanwhile an S90 from Daqing or an XC60 from Chengdu sold in Europe starts with a Chinese code, LVY or LYV. On a Volvo, the first three characters name the company, and only position 11 names the factory.
- WMI set: 6 codes: YV1, YV4, LVY, LYV, 7JR, 7JD
- Plant codes: 8 codes in 5 countries
- Last verified: 8 October 2026
Decode a Volvo VIN
Scope: Volvo YV1 · YV4 · LVY · LYV · 7JR · 7JD0 / 17
A Volvo VIN never contains I, O or Q. The 1 in YV1 is a digit one, and what looks like an O in a Chinese-built LVY or LYV code is a zero.
What a Volvo VIN tells you, position by position
Volvo Car Corporation registered YV1 for cars and YV4 for SUVs and MPVs, but in Europe the split hardly shows: the European XC40, XC60, XC90 and EX30 VINs we checked all begin YV1. YV4 turns up on North American cars, such as a 2024 XC90 from Torslanda. China has its own pair. LVY marks the Daqing plant, LYV the SUVs from Chengdu. Volvo Car USA uses 7JR and 7JD at Ridgeville in South Carolina.
Position 9 changed meaning with model year 2023. On European VINs up to model year 2022 it is often a letter, D or C, and none of the 30 such VINs we tested survived the ISO 3779 sum. From model year 2023 the picture flips: 13 of 13 European VINs, from Ghent, Torslanda, Daqing and Zhangjiakou, computed correctly. North American Volvos always pass; 41 of 41 did.
Position 10 is a real model year on every Volvo, European ones included. M means 2021, R 2024. Position 11 is the plant: 1 for Torslanda, 2 for Ghent, P for Daqing, B for Chengdu, S for Zhangjiakou, G for Ridgeville. Positions 12 to 17 count the cars off the line.
Volvo WMI codes
| WMI | Meaning |
|---|---|
| YV1 | Volvo Car Corporation, Sweden: passenger cars, and in Europe the SUVs too (XC40, XC60, XC90, EX30). Also used on cars from Ghent and on the China-built EX30 |
| YV4 | Volvo Car Corporation, Sweden: SUVs and MPVs, seen on North American XC40, XC60 and XC90 |
| LVY | Daqing Volvo Car Manufacturing, China: passenger cars such as the S90, for Europe and the US |
| LYV | Volvo's Chinese SUV code: XC60 from Chengdu, including cars registered in the UK |
| 7JR | Volvo Car USA, Ridgeville (Charleston plant), South Carolina: passenger cars such as the S60 |
| 7JD | Volvo Car USA, Ridgeville, South Carolina: SUVs such as the EX90 |
Two sources stand behind every code: NHTSA's vPIC list of manufacturers and a VIN reference that does not depend on it. Codes such as YV2 and YV3 are Volvo trucks and buses, a separate company, and Polestar is its own make; neither is decoded as a Volvo car here.
Sweden, Belgium, China, USA: four routes to one badge
The Volvo you are looking at online may have left a factory in any of four countries. Is that XC60 Swedish? Position 11 answers: 1 is Torslanda, B is Chengdu. Is the XC40 in the advert Swedish at all? With 2 in position 11 it was built in Ghent, whatever YV1 suggests.
Torslanda and Ghent: YV1 (and YV4 for North America)
- Plant 1 is Torslanda in Gothenburg (XC60, XC90); plant 2 is Ghent (XC40, the 2012–2019 V40).
- A Ghent car still starts YV1, so the decoder flags Sweden against Belgium. That is normal.
- Up to model year 2022, position 9 on a European VIN is often a letter: amber here, not an error.
Built in China: LVY, LYV and the EX30
- LVY with P in position 11 is Daqing: S90 saloons sold in Belgium, Sweden and the Netherlands.
- LYV with B is Chengdu: XC60s registered in the UK, among others.
- The 2024 EX30 breaks the pattern: YV1 in front, S for Zhangjiakou in position 11.
North America: YV4, 7JR, 7JD
- US-market Volvos from Sweden, Belgium and China all computed position 9 in our test.
- Ridgeville in South Carolina builds the S60 (7JR) and the EX90 (7JD), plant letter G.
- The XC90 for the US carries YV4 and a Torslanda 1, e.g. a 2024 car beginning YV4L12PK.
YV1 does not mean Sweden, and China does not always mean L
Volvo is inconsistent about China. S90s from Daqing and XC60s from Chengdu carry the Chinese codes LVY and LYV. The EX30 built in Zhangjiakou from 2023 carries the Swedish YV1 instead. Its only tell is S in position 11. The same applies to Ghent: a Belgian-built XC40 also says YV1 and gives itself away with a 2.
Green means position 9 computes. A European Volvo up to model year 2022 usually fails, so the decoder shows amber; that is how Volvo built those numbers. Red is reserved for a 7JD EX90 that fails, because every VIN from that era should compute. Bought a 2023-or-later Volvo in Europe and see amber? Read the plate behind the windscreen again, one character at a time: all 13 we tested from that period passed.
Model year: position 10 on a Volvo
Every Volvo, whatever its market, keeps the model year in position 10. N stands for 2022, P for 2023. The letters repeat every 30 years, but the model rules out the older reading: there was no XC40 in 1994. Volvo's model year also runs ahead of the calendar. One XC60 first registered in 2021 carries N, for 2022. Checking a car at a German dealer? Its Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil I gives the date of first registration under B, and a British V5C has the same date.
| Code | Model year | Code | Model year |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 2010 | M | 2021 |
| B | 2011 | N | 2022 |
| C | 2012 | P | 2023 |
| D | 2013 | R | 2024 |
| E | 2014 | S | 2025 |
| F | 2015 | T | 2026 |
| G | 2016 | V | 2027 |
| H | 2017 | W | 2028 |
| J | 2018 | X | 2029 |
| K | 2019 | Y | 2030 |
| L | 2020 |
Frequently asked questions
What do the Volvo WMI codes YV1, YV4, LVY and LYV mean?
YV1 is Volvo Car Corporation in Sweden, used on cars and, in Europe, on SUVs too. YV4 is its SUV and MPV code, found on North American XC90s and XC60s. LVY is Daqing Volvo Car Manufacturing in China (S90), LYV the Chinese SUV code (XC60 from Chengdu). 7JR and 7JD belong to Volvo Car USA in Ridgeville, South Carolina.
Was my Volvo built in China?
Look at positions 1 and 11. LVY or LYV at the start means a Chinese plant: P is Daqing, B is Chengdu. An EX30 needs the second look, because Chinese-built ones begin YV1 like a Swedish car; S in position 11 marks Zhangjiakou. A 1 means Torslanda, a 2 Ghent.
Why does my European Volvo fail the check digit?
If it is model year 2022 or older, that is expected. Volvo did not compute position 9 on European VINs then, and often put a letter such as D there. All 30 of those we tested failed. From model year 2023 the digit is real: if a 2024 XC40 fails, look for a typo first.
Where is the VIN on a Volvo?
Two places on the car: behind the windscreen where it meets the dashboard, driver's side, and on a plate or sticker in the door pillar next to the driver's seat. On paper, the UK V5C carries it, and so does field E of a German Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil I. Buying privately? All three should be identical.
What can't a Volvo VIN tell you?
Expect no trim level, paint colour, option list or service record from a Volvo VIN. What it does carry: the plant, the model year and, in positions 4 to 8, the model and engine family. Everything else lives in the registration papers and the service book.