# Official NHTSA WMI Manufacturer Decode

> Official NHTSA WMI Manufacturer Decode is a paid API for AI agents from ai-data-marketplace-1042299154756.us-central1.run.app, paid per call via x402, $0.002/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-09-16).

Decodes a 3-character World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI) or 6-character low-volume manufacturer code into manufacturer name, make, and vehicle type via the official NHTSA vPIC API.

## Facts

- Endpoint: GET https://ai-data-marketplace-1042299154756.us-central1.run.app/api/v1/wmi_decode
- Price: $0.002/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-09-16
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/official-nhtsa-wmi-manufacturer-decode-2135cce7
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_pkGSTflxvkZuf3FvPGBWV

Status and success rate cover calls made through Zero and Zero's own probes. Third-party monitors may report differently.

## How to call it through Zero

Zero handles the 402 payment challenge and records the run. With the Zero CLI installed (`npm i -g @zeroxyz/cli`):

```sh
zero fetch --capability official-nhtsa-wmi-manufacturer-decode-2135cce7
```

Example prompt: Can you look up who manufactures vehicles with the WMI code '1HG' — I want to know the manufacturer name, make, and vehicle type from the official NHTSA database?

## When to prefer this

Use this endpoint when you need to identify the manufacturer behind a specific WMI prefix extracted from a VIN, or when verifying vehicle origin from first-party NHTSA data. Prefer this over full VIN decode when you only have the first 3 characters or need lightweight manufacturer-only lookups. Best for automotive data enrichment, fraud detection on VINs, and fleet management pipelines where manufacturer identity is the key need.

## Known failure modes

- Invalid or unrecognized WMI returns empty manufacturers array with count of 0
- WMI shorter than 3 characters or longer than 6 characters may return an error or no results
- NHTSA upstream API unavailability causing timeout or 5xx response
- Non-alphanumeric characters in WMI may cause malformed request

## How this service works

Decode a 3-character World Manufacturer Identifier or 6-character low-volume identifier through the official NHTSA vPIC API.

## Output

Returns a JSON object with the queried WMI string, a count of matched manufacturers, and an array of manufacturer records each containing manufacturer_name, make, and vehicle_type fields, along with a success flag.

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
 "required": [
  "input"
 ],
 "properties": {
  "input": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type",
    "method"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string",
     "const": "http"
    },
    "method": {
     "enum": [
      "GET"
     ],
     "type": "string"
    },
    "queryParams": {
     "type": "object",
     "required": [
      "wmi"
     ],
     "properties": {
      "wmi": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "A 3-character WMI or 6-character low-volume manufacturer identifier."
      }
     },
     "additionalProperties": true
    }
   },
   "additionalProperties": false
  },
  "output": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string"
    },
    "example": {
     "type": "object",
     "required": [
      "success",
      "wmi",
      "count",
      "manufacturers"
     ],
     "properties": {
      "wmi": {
       "type": "string"
      },
      "count": {
       "type": "integer"
      },
      "success": {
       "type": "boolean"
      },
      "manufacturers": {
       "type": "array",
       "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "required": [
         "manufacturer_name",
         "make",
         "vehicle_type"
        ],
        "properties": {
         "make": {
          "type": "string"
         },
         "vehicle_type": {
          "type": "string"
         },
         "manufacturer_name": {
          "type": "string"
         }
        },
        "additionalProperties": true
       }
      }
     },
     "additionalProperties": true
    }
   }
  }
 }
}
```

## Response schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "json",
 "example": {
  "wmi": "1HG",
  "count": 1,
  "success": true,
  "manufacturers": [
   {
    "make": "HONDA",
    "vehicle_type": "PASSENGER CAR",
    "manufacturer_name": "HONDA OF AMERICA MFG., INC."
   }
  ]
 }
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/official-nhtsa-wmi-manufacturer-decode-2135cce7/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from ai-data-marketplace-1042299154756.us-central1.run.app](https://www.zero.xyz/host/ai-data-marketplace-1042299154756.us-central1.run.app/llms.txt)