How Can You Tell if a Car Was Built in the U.S.?

There’s a lot of uncertainty around how and when tariffs will affect car prices, but one thing ought to be certain: Vehicles assembled in America should feel less of a price hike sting. But how can you tell if a vehicle was built in the U.S.? The vehicle identification number is one place to start, as well as a car’s Monroney label, or window sticker.

Related: Which Cars Are Made Outside the U.S.?

By federal law, every vehicle has a VIN displayed on a dashboard sticker or plaque. The 17-digit VIN acts like your car’s fingerprint in that it’s a unique combination of numbers and letters that is used to identify your vehicle and give you information about it, including where it was made.

Similarly, U.S. law also requires a Monroney label to be displayed on all new light-duty passenger cars; it lists important information such as the car’s make, model, year, powertrain, warranty, suggested retail price, the origins of the car’s parts and assembly plant, among other details.

Here’s how to decode a vehicle’s VIN and Monroney label.

How Do I Read a Vehicle’s VIN?

First, locate the vehicle’s VIN; it’s often located on the driver-side doorjamb or the dashboard near the windshield on the driver’s side.

The first character of the VIN indicates the country in which the vehicle was built. VINs starting with 1, 4 and 5 are manufactured stateside. Those made in Canada start with a 2, and vehicles made in Mexico start with a 3. Other countries are denoted with letters. Those made in Asia use letters J through R, and those in Europe use letters S through Z. (For example, the VIN for a 2025 Hyundai Sonata will start with a K, which stands for South Korea.)

To get even more detail, the 11th character indicates in which plant the vehicle was manufactured. Each automaker has its own set of plant codes. Use the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s VIN decoder to find this information and more about a specific vehicle.

How Do I Read a Vehicle’s Window Sticker?

A car’s window sticker is full of specific information, including where a car was made as well as the origins of its major components.

Typically, to the right of the crash-test ratings on the window sticker is a box that includes information about the origins of the car’s parts, including the percentage of parts that come from the U.S. or Canada, names of any other countries that contribute 15% or more of the equipment, final assembly point, countries of origin for the engine and transmission (or drive motors in an electric vehicle), and a note that parts content does not include final assembly, distribution or other non-parts costs.

But if You Just Buy a Car From an American Car Brand, It’s Made in America, Right?

The answer to this question is complicated. Since cars operate in a global economy, their parts often are sourced from many countries, and the cars may then be produced in other countries. American car companies are no exception: For example, the 2025 Pacifica minivan from American brand Chrysler is built in Canada. It works in reverse, too: Japanese automaker Honda builds its Odyssey minivan in Alabama. Even American-made Tesla vehicles aren’t 100% American; although they top the list of Cars.com’s 2024 American-Made Index, these vehicles still use some foreign parts.

And things can get even murkier. Sometimes the same vehicle is built in multiple countries. For example, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 was primarily built in South Korea and Singapore, but for the 2025 model, Hyundai is moving production to the U.S. at the automaker’s Georgia plant.

While an entirely American-made vehicle is a unicorn, you should be able to use the car’s VIN and Monroney to determine where it was made and have that inform your next car purchase. You can also use our 2024 American-Made Index to help you find out which cars are the most American.

Looking for affordable eggs? Sorry, we can’t help you with that one.

More From Cars.com:

• Video: How to Find Your Vehicle Identification Number
• 2024 Cars.com American-Made Index: What About the Least American Cars?
• What Does a Car Title Look Like?
• More Car-Buying Advice
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