U5Y — Kia
A VIN that begins with U5Y was built by Kia Slovakia s.r.o. in Slovakia. Decode a full U5Y VIN below to get the exact make, model, engine and origin.
What U5Y means
U5Y is the World Manufacturer Identifier — the first three characters of every VIN, which identify who built the vehicle and where.
Slovakia-built Kia (Žilina) — Ceed, Sportage.
How the U5Y prefix is built
Under ISO 3780, the three WMI characters break down like this:
“U” places the manufacturer in Europe.
“U5” identifies the assigning country: Slovakia.
“Y” narrows it to Kia Slovakia s.r.o..
Where Kia U5Y vehicles are built
Vehicles with a U5Y VIN are associated with Kia Slovakia s.r.o., Slovakia. Note that a single carmaker uses different WMIs for different plants, so the U5Y prefix points to this specific origin — not simply to the Kia brand.
Real decoded U5Y VINs
Live examples already decoded on VinSpecify:
More about Kia VINs
See how Kia structures its VINs, every common WMI prefix and where to find the number.