Decode Your VIN
Enter your vehicle's VIN code to discover all technical specifications. The VIN consists of 17 alphanumeric characters.
SsangYong Rexton VIN Decoder
Decode any SsangYong Rexton VIN free in seconds. Type the 17-character vehicle identification number into the decoder above and get the model year, generation, engine and fuel type, assembly plant, and known recall status, with no sign-up and no credit card.
A quick note before you decode: the Rexton has never been sold as a road car in the United States, so if you found this page hoping for a US NHTSA decode, expect thin results from that specific database (more on why below). The Rexton is also not badged under the same corporate name it was a few years ago. SsangYong Motor Company built the Rexton from 2001 onward and passed through a series of owners: part-owned by Daewoo in the late 1990s, majority-owned by China’s SAIC Motor from 2004 to 2010, then by India’s Mahindra & Mahindra from 2011 to 2022. A second bankruptcy and court receivership in late 2020 ended the Mahindra era, and Korea’s KG Group acquired a controlling stake in 2022, renaming the company KG Mobility (KGM) in March 2023. The vehicles still wear the Rexton name, and most owners still call the brand SsangYong, which is why this page targets that name; the decoder above reads a KGM-era VIN the same way it reads a 2003 SsangYong-badged one, since the underlying 17-character ISO 3779 format hasn’t changed.
About the SsangYong Rexton
The Rexton is SsangYong’s flagship SUV, launched in late 2001 as a body-on-frame design styled by Giorgetto Giugiaro’s Italdesign studio. It has gone through three broad body generations, with a mid-cycle facelift inside each one, plus the 2023 corporate rebrand that changed the badge without changing the underlying vehicle:
| Generation | Internal code | Years | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Y200, facelifted as Y250 (“Rexton II”) | 2001-2012 | Original body-on-frame Rexton; Y250 added a diesel particulate filter and variable-geometry turbo from 2006 |
| 2nd | Y290 (“Rexton W”) | 2012-2017 | First facelift under Mahindra; revised grille, headlights, chassis; later added a Mercedes-Benz 7G-Tronic automatic |
| 3rd | Y400, facelifted as Y450 | 2017-present | New platform shared in part with the Musso pickup; unveiled at Seoul and Frankfurt 2017; Y450 facelift for MY2020 |
| 3rd (KGM era) | Y450 continued | 2023-present | Same Y450 platform, rebadged KGM Rexton after the March 2023 rename; sold in Korea as the “G4 Rexton” |
Two things worth knowing if you’re cross-shopping a used one. A badge-engineered version of the Y400/Y450 was sold in India as the Mahindra Alturas G4 from 2018 to 2022, discontinued for poor sales; an Alturas VIN won’t carry a SsangYong WMI. Several export markets also sell a pickup-truck version of this platform badged Rexton Sports or Musso, a different model line not covered here.
Every Rexton, across all three generations, has been assembled at SsangYong/KGM’s Pyeongtaek plant in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, the company’s headquarters and main factory since 1979. The original Y200 was also CKD-assembled at overseas partner plants (India, Malaysia, Russia, Ukraine) in the 2000s to sidestep import tariffs, but Pyeongtaek has been the sole source of complete Rextons for years.
SsangYong Rexton WMI codes (positions 1-3)
The first three characters of a VIN are the World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI), assigned under ISO 3780. Because the Rexton has never been submitted for US sale, it isn’t in NHTSA’s registry as an importable vehicle, so this table comes from decoding real, checksum-checked Rexton VINs pulled from South Korean export auctions and European salvage listings, rather than from a US regulatory filing:
| WMI | Observed on | Country / plant |
|---|---|---|
| KPT | 2006 Rexton, VIN KPTG0B1FS6P232694 (Copart Spain salvage auction) | South Korea, Pyeongtaek |
| KPA | 2019 Rextons, VINs KPADA4AE1KP071836 and KPADM4AE1KP072663 (Korean export listings) | South Korea, Pyeongtaek |
| KPB | 2016 Rexton, VIN KPBFH2AE1GP357564; 2021 Rexton, VIN KPBGH2AE1MP078275 (Korean export listings) | South Korea, Pyeongtaek |
A fourth code, KPS, shows up in NHTSA’s own vPIC database under the older “SsangYong Motor Co. Ltd.” registration, but it isn’t confirmed on any real decoded Rexton VIN we could find, so treat it as a manufacturer-registry entry rather than a code you’ll see on a car. All three confirmed codes share the KP prefix marking a South Korea-built vehicle; the third character appears to vary by body/model line rather than by factory, since every VIN above traces back to Pyeongtaek. If a VIN doesn’t start with KP, it isn’t a genuine Korea-built Rexton.
How to read a SsangYong Rexton VIN: position by position
Every Rexton built since 2001 uses the standard 17-character ISO 3779 layout, split into three blocks:
| Block | Positions | What it encodes |
|---|---|---|
| World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI) | 1-3 | Country and manufacturer |
| Vehicle Descriptor Section (VDS) | 4-8 | Model, body, engine, restraints |
| Check digit | 9 | Math-validated control character |
| Vehicle Identifier Section (VIS) | 10-17 | Model year, plant, serial |
Positions 1-3: World Manufacturer Identifier
See the WMI table above. Every genuine Rexton carries a KP-prefixed WMI (KPT, KPA, or KPB on the real VINs we decoded), identifying South Korea as the country of build and SsangYong/KGM as the manufacturer.
Positions 4-8: Vehicle Descriptor Section (VDS)
This is where a decoder is supposed to separate a Rexton from a Korando or a Musso, narrowing down body style, engine, and restraints. Here’s the honest limitation: SsangYong/KGM hasn’t published a position-by-position VDS key, and NHTSA’s vPIC returns no field-level breakdown for these VINs (see the check-digit note below for why). From the real VINs decoded for this page, the five VDS characters do vary meaningfully between cars of the same model: a 2016 Rexton read FH2AE, a 2021 Rexton read GH2AE, and two 2019 Rextons read DA4AE and DM4AE. That pattern, a shared suffix with one or two leading characters changing, hints at generation/body up front and engine or trim in the middle, but we won’t invent a character-by-character key we can’t verify against an official source.
Position 9: Check digit
The check digit normally lets a decoder catch typos, calculated from the other 16 characters using a fixed weighting table and modulo-11 math under the North American FMVSS 565 formula. Worth flagging plainly: every real Rexton VIN we ran through NHTSA’s vPIC came back with “Check Digit (9th position) does not calculate properly.” That’s not a sign the VINs are fake; all five traced to genuine auction and export listings with matching model years. It’s a reminder that the check-digit formula is a US-specific requirement, and Korean-market VINs, like many built outside North America, aren’t guaranteed to satisfy it. Don’t assume a Rexton VIN is invalid just because a US-standard checker flags position 9.
Position 10: Model year
The 10th character maps to model year on the standard worldwide 30-year cycle. For a Rexton, built continuously since 2001, here’s the full range:
| Char | Year | Char | Year | Char | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2001 | H | 2017 | ||
| 2 | 2002 | J | 2018 | ||
| 3 | 2003 | K | 2019 | ||
| 4 | 2004 | L | 2020 | ||
| 5 | 2005 | M | 2021 | ||
| 6 | 2006 | N | 2022 | ||
| 7 | 2007 | P | 2023 | ||
| 8 | 2008 | R | 2024 | ||
| 9 | 2009 | S | 2025 | ||
| A | 2010 | T | 2026 | ||
| B | 2011 | ||||
| C | 2012 | ||||
| D | 2013 | ||||
| E | 2014 | ||||
| F | 2015 | ||||
| G | 2016 |
The letters I, O, and Q are never used, since they’re easily mistaken for 1 and 0. Every real VIN checked for this page confirmed this table exactly: the 2006 Rexton carried a 6 at position 10, the 2016 car carried G, both 2019 cars carried K, and the 2021 car carried M.
Position 11: Assembly plant
All five real Rexton VINs decoded for this page carry P at position 11, consistent with a single-plant vehicle built at Pyeongtaek across every generation and both the pre- and post-2023 badge. We haven’t found a Rexton VIN with a different position-11 character, which lines up with the plant history above: unlike a global-platform Kia or Hyundai, the Rexton has effectively never left Pyeongtaek.
Positions 12-17: Serial number
The final six characters are the production sequence number stamped on that specific vehicle as it left the line. Combined with the previous 11 characters, this makes every Rexton VIN globally unique, and it’s the block that differs between two Rextons of the same year, plant, and trim.
Where to find the VIN on a SsangYong Rexton
- Lower corner of the windshield, visible from outside the vehicle
- Driver’s side door jamb sticker (VIN, tyre pressure, paint and trim codes)
- Stamped on the chassis frame or engine bay firewall
- Vehicle registration certificate, and KG Mobility (or older SsangYong) service paperwork
The windshield and door jamb are the fastest to check on a used-car lot; the chassis stamp is the one to verify if you suspect a VIN plate has been swapped, since it’s physically tied to the frame rather than a removable sticker.
Recalls and safety information
South Korea doesn’t run vehicle safety and recalls through NHTSA. That falls to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), which orders recalls when a defect affects safe driving, with day-to-day administration handled by the Korea Transportation Safety Authority (KOTSA) through its Motor Vehicle Recall Center. For a Rexton exported elsewhere, the local transport regulator (the DVSA in the UK, for example) also tracks recalls independently, so check both if your car was sold outside Korea.
To check a specific Rexton:
- Decode the VIN with the tool above to confirm model year and generation
- Search the Motor Vehicle Recall Center at car.go.kr, run by KOTSA on behalf of MOLIT
- For a UK- or EU-market car, also check that country’s own recall database, since KGM issues market-specific campaigns
- Contact your nearest KG Mobility (SsangYong) authorised service centre with the VIN for confirmation and free repair
Recall repairs ordered under Korea’s Motor Vehicle Management Act are free of charge, regardless of the vehicle’s age or ownership history.
Frequently asked questions
Why can’t I find my Rexton VIN in NHTSA’s decoder?
Because the Rexton has never been certified for sale in the United States, NHTSA’s vPIC database doesn’t carry a manufacturer plant or model registration for it. Decoding a real Rexton VIN through NHTSA’s own lookup returns an explicit “manufacturer is not registered… for sale or importation in the U.S.” error. That’s expected, not a sign of a problem with your VIN; use the decoder above instead, which is built for non-US markets.
Why does my Rexton’s VIN fail a check-digit validator?
The 9th-character check digit is calculated with a formula that’s a US federal requirement (FMVSS 565), not a universal ISO one. Every real Rexton VIN we tested against NHTSA’s own checker came back flagged for a check-digit mismatch, despite tracing to genuine, verifiable vehicles. Korean-market VINs, like those from many manufacturers outside North America, follow the same 17-character structure without necessarily satisfying that formula.
Is the SsangYong Rexton sold in the United States?
No. The Rexton has never been sold as a road car in the US under either the SsangYong or KGM name. It’s sold across South Korea, the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Australia, and other export markets. A Rexton advertised in the US is likely a private import without US-compliant safety certification.
Is SsangYong the same company as KGM?
Yes. SsangYong Motor Company was renamed KG Mobility Corp. (KGM) in March 2023, after Korea’s KG Group acquired a controlling stake in 2022 following a second bankruptcy and court receivership. Same factory, same model lineup; only the corporate name and, on newer cars, the badge changed.
How do I tell which Rexton generation I have from the VIN?
The VIN alone doesn’t spell out “Y200” or “Y450” the way some manufacturers embed a platform code. Use the model year at position 10 alongside the generation table above: 2001-2012 is the original body-on-frame car (Y200/Y250), 2012-2017 is the Rexton W (Y290), and 2017-present is the current platform (Y400, facelifted as Y450 from model year 2020, sold as the KGM Rexton since 2023).
Is the SsangYong Rexton VIN decoder free?
Yes. VinDecoderPlus decodes every Rexton VIN free of charge, with no sign-up or credit card required.
Can a Rexton VIN be cloned or faked?
The 17 characters can be retyped on a counterfeit plate. Cross-check the windshield and door-jamb VINs against the stamp on the chassis frame; if they don’t match, the car may have been cloned or had a salvage title obscured. The guide on how to check if a car is stolen by VIN walks through the verification steps in more detail.
Decode any SsangYong Rexton VIN free
Type your 17-character Rexton VIN into the decoder at the top of this page for an instant breakdown. To go deeper into VIN structure or check other SsangYong models:
- SsangYong VIN decoder hub for the brand-wide guide
- How to read a VIN number for the general standard
- What every character in a VIN means for a position-by-position reference
- Classic car VIN decoder for pre-1981 vehicles without a standard 17-character VIN
- VIN decoder vs. vehicle history report for what a decode covers versus what it doesn’t
- How to check if a car is stolen by VIN for buying a used Rexton with confidence
