Holden VIN Decoder
Decode any Holden VIN free in seconds. Enter the 17-character vehicle identification number from your Holden into the decoder above and get the model, year, engine, plant of origin, and recall status instantly, with no sign-up and no credit card.
This page is the Holden VIN hub: Holden-specific WMI codes, plant codes, a position-by-position guide to reading a Holden VIN, where to find the VIN on your Holden, and how to check recalls now that Holden no longer builds or sells cars.
About Holden
Holden’s story starts nowhere near a car. J.A. Holden & Co opened in Adelaide, South Australia, in 1856 as a saddlery. The business moved into automotive work in 1908, repairing car upholstery and building hoods and fenders, then produced its first full car body by hand in 1914. Its coachbuilding arm, Holden’s Motor Body Builders Ltd, was registered in 1919 and grew into the largest car body manufacturer in the British Empire.
General Motors bought the company outright in 1931, forming General Motors-Holden’s Ltd. Holden spent the next 17 years building bodies for imported GM chassis before Prime Minister Ben Chifley launched the 48-215 in Melbourne on 29 November 1948, widely credited as the first car designed and mass-produced entirely in Australia. That car set the template for everything that followed: the Kingswood (1968-1984), the Monaro (1968-1977, revived 2001-2006), the Torana (1967-1980), the Commodore (from 1978), and the Ute, a body style Holden had built since the 1930s and later sold as its own nameplate.
Holden never stopped being a GM subsidiary, and that ownership eventually ended it. GM announced on 17 February 2020 that it would retire the Holden brand by 2021, closing engineering and design operations and winding down the dealer network. Local manufacturing had already ended on 20 October 2017 when the Elizabeth plant near Adelaide built its last car; Holden then sold imported GM models under its own badge until the brand stopped trading on 31 December 2020. Altogether Holden operated as a business for more than 160 years and built cars in Australia for 73, producing close to 7.7 million vehicles. One common point of confusion: Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) did not close with Holden. Its parent, Walkinshaw Automotive Group, now runs GM Specialty Vehicles (GMSV) with General Motors, converting US-built Chevrolet trucks like the Silverado to right-hand drive for Australia and New Zealand under that new badge, not Holden’s.
Holden WMI codes (positions 1-3)
The first three characters of your VIN, the World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI), tell you who built the vehicle and where. Because Holden sold only in Australia and New Zealand, its WMIs were never registered with NHTSA’s US database; a search of NHTSA’s vPIC registry for “Holden” returns only an unrelated US trailer maker. The WMIs below come from Holden’s own VIN issuance under the Oceania region code (“6”) and are corroborated by independent VIN registries and real-world Holden VINs:
| WMI | Country of build | Vehicle type |
|---|---|---|
| 6H8 | Australia | Holden passenger car, built pre-November 2002 (VN through early VX/VY Commodore era and earlier) |
| 6G1 | Australia | Holden passenger car, built post-November 2002 (later VY Commodore through the final VF Commodore and Ute, 2017) |
| MMU | Thailand | Holden Colorado and Colorado 7, built by GM Thailand alongside the Chevrolet equivalents |
| MPA | Thailand | Holden Rodeo pickup, built under contract by Isuzu Motors Thailand |
Many Holdens do not carry a 6H8 or 6G1 WMI at all. Holden badge-engineered several imported models onto other manufacturers’ VINs: the Astra, Vectra, and Zafira came from Opel in Europe (prefix W0L), the Barina and Epica came from GM Daewoo/GM Korea, and later small cars like the Cruze carried their source factory’s own WMI. Other retired GM brands did the reverse; Pontiac sold Holden-built cars (the GTO and G8) under its own WMI, 6G2, not Holden’s. If your Holden VIN begins with something other than the codes above, decode it with the tool above to confirm the model and origin.
How to read a Holden VIN: position by position
Holden VINs sold in Australia after 1 January 1989 use the same 17-character ISO 3779 structure as the rest of the world, adopted locally under Australian Design Rule 61. That’s later than the 1981 date used elsewhere on this site, which reflects the equivalent US mandate. The 17 characters 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, restraint system, engine |
| Check digit | 9 | Control character (see note below) |
| Vehicle Identifier Section (VIS) | 10 – 17 | Model year, plant, serial |
Here is what each position means specifically on a Holden:
Positions 1-3: World Manufacturer Identifier
See the WMI table above. The country code at position 1 tells you where the vehicle was physically assembled, not where Holden was headquartered (Port Melbourne, Victoria, in its later years). A Thailand-built Colorado and a European-sourced Astra both wore a genuine Holden badge but carry a different country code than an Elizabeth-built Commodore.
Positions 4-8: Vehicle Descriptor Section (VDS)
Position 4 typically identifies the model series (the letter that gave each Commodore generation its familiar VB-through-ZB name), with the remaining positions covering body style, restraint system, and engine or drivetrain combination.
Position 9: Check digit
On US-market VINs, position 9 is a mandatory check digit required by federal regulation (49 CFR 565). That’s a US and Canadian rule; Australia’s ADR 61 requires the 17-character ISO 3779 format but doesn’t impose the same check-digit mandate. Holden’s VIN system, as part of a global GM subsidiary, may still compute a consistent value here, but treat it as informative rather than guaranteed to validate a Holden VIN the way it would a US-built car.
Position 10: Model year
The 10th character maps to a model year on the same 30-year cycle used across the VIN standard, and Holden’s own records, confirmed against real Commodore VINs, follow it: Y = 2000, 1 = 2001, 2 = 2002, and onward through the alphabet and digits. Since Holden’s last locally built car rolled off the line in 2017 and its last imported models sold through 2021, you’ll only see codes for roughly 1989 through 2021 on a genuine Holden VIN. The letters I, O, and Q are never used in any VIN, because they look too similar to 1 and 0.
Position 11: Assembly plant
The single character at position 11 identifies the specific factory. Confirmed on real Holden VINs: L for the Elizabeth plant near Adelaide, South Australia, Holden’s primary and, from 1989 onward, only local manufacturing site. Imported Holden models built by Opel, GM Daewoo, or Isuzu use those companies’ own plant coding instead.
Positions 12-17: Serial number
The final six characters are the production sequence number stamped on your specific Holden as it rolled off the line, making every Holden VIN globally unique.
Where to find the VIN on a Holden
You can find your Holden VIN in several places. The windshield and door jamb are easiest to read; the others help when one of those labels has faded or been replaced.
- Lower-left corner of the windshield, visible from outside
- Driver’s side door jamb sticker (VIN, build date, paint, and trim codes)
- Stamped on the firewall or engine bay near the strut tower
- Vehicle title, registration papers, and older Holden service records
If your Holden was built before Australia’s 1989 VIN mandate, including the 48-215, early Kingswoods, Toranas, Monaros, and Commodores from the VB through VL generations, the chassis number is shorter than 17 characters and follows an older, Holden-specific format. Use our classic car VIN decoder guide instead.
Check Holden recalls and safety information
Holden stopped selling new vehicles in Australia at the end of 2021 and has no active dealer network of its own. That does not mean recalls have stopped. Vehicle safety recalls in Australia used to be published by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), but that job moved to the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications on 1 July 2021, with historic ACCC records migrated over by September 2021. Every Holden recall, past and current, is searchable in one place:
- Decode the VIN with the tool above to confirm the model and model year
- Search your VIN or model directly on the Vehicle Recalls website run by the Department of Infrastructure
- For open campaigns, contact GM Specialty Vehicles or an authorised GM-affiliated service center, since Holden’s own service network has wound down
A recall does not expire because a brand is discontinued. General Motors is still in business, remains the manufacturer of record for Holden’s safety campaigns, and is obligated to complete free repairs regardless of the car’s age or the brand’s status.
Frequently asked questions
How do I decode my Holden VIN?
Type the 17-character VIN from your Holden’s windshield, door jamb, or vehicle title into the decoder at the top of this page. Results return in seconds and include make, model, model year, body style, engine, plant of origin, and any open recalls. No registration is required.
Where is the VIN on my Holden?
The two easiest spots are the lower-left corner of the windshield and the driver-side door jamb sticker. Both were required by Australian Design Rule 61 on every Holden supplied to the local market from 1989 onward.
Is the Holden VIN decoder free?
Yes. VinDecoderPlus decodes every Holden VIN free of charge with no sign-up or credit card. Full vehicle history reports, including ownership records, accident history, and odometer history, are available as an optional paid upgrade.
Does Holden still make cars, and who handles recalls now?
No. General Motors announced Holden’s retirement in February 2020, ended local manufacturing in 2017, and stopped selling Holden-badged vehicles by the end of 2021. Holden Special Vehicles did not disappear with the brand; its parent company now runs GM Specialty Vehicles, converting US-built GM trucks for Australia under a new badge. Recalls on existing Holdens are tracked on Australia’s Vehicle Recalls website, with General Motors remaining the manufacturer of record.
What does the VIN tell me about my Holden?
A VIN decode confirms the original factory configuration of your Holden: model, year, body style, engine, trim, plant of origin, and any recall actions issued against that VIN. It does not record color, current mileage, accident history, or ownership chain. For those, you need a paid vehicle history report.
Can a Holden VIN be faked?
The 17 characters can be retyped, and unlike a US-market VIN, a Holden VIN’s position 9 wasn’t necessarily bound by a mandatory check-digit rule, so relying on that one character to catch tampering is less reliable than on an American car. If you suspect a cloned or altered VIN on a discontinued brand like Holden, where fewer buyers check closely, our guide how to check if a car is stolen by VIN walks through the next steps.
Decode any Holden VIN free
Type your 17-character Holden VIN into the decoder at the top of this page and get a full breakdown instantly. To learn more about VIN structure in general, see our guides: