Land Rover VIN decoder: SAL, the model letter and the plant
SAL, SAJ and the other JLR prefixes
SAL is the World Manufacturer Identifier for Land Rover, and NHTSA’s register lists it under Jaguar Land Rover Limited as a multipurpose vehicle maker. Jaguar has its own prefix, SAJ, registered to the same company as a passenger car maker.
Two less common prefixes appear on Land Rovers built outside Europe. 99J belongs to JLR’s plant in Brazil and L2C to Chery Jaguar Land Rover, the joint venture in China. A car with either prefix was built for its home market, so check the market before you trust a part number from a European car.
Position 4 names the model line
Land Rover uses position 4 for the model, and the letters change with each generation. K is the current Range Rover, the L460, and 1 is the third Range Rover Sport, the L461. E is the Defender of 2020 onward, R the fifth Discovery and Y the Range Rover Velar.
The older generations keep their own letters. G is the L405 Range Rover of 2013 to 2022 and W the L494 Range Rover Sport of 2014 to 2022. That makes position 4 the fastest way to tell a late L405 from an early L460 when the model year alone leaves you unsure.
Land Rover VIN decoder for North American builds: positions 6 to 8
US rules require the VIN to describe the body and engine type, and Land Rover spreads that across positions 6 to 8. On a Defender, position 6 separates the 90 with code 6, the 110 with two rows of seats with 7, the 110 with three rows with E, and the long 130 with F.
On cars from 2017 onward, position 7 is the gearbox and position 8 the engine. X is the 2.0-liter Ingenium four-cylinder gasoline engine and U the 3.0-liter Ingenium six with a 48-volt mild hybrid. E is the 5.0-liter supercharged V8 fitted to the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport up to 2022 and to the Defender V8.
The plant in position 11: Solihull, Halewood, Nitra
A is Solihull, the Lode Lane plant near Birmingham and the largest JLR factory. It builds the Range Rover, the Range Rover Sport and the Velar. H is Halewood on Merseyside, which has built the Range Rover Evoque since 2011 and the Discovery Sport since 2015.
2 is Nitra in Slovakia. The plant opened in October 2018 and builds the Defender of 2020 onward, and Discovery production moved there from Solihull the same year. A Discovery from around that changeover can come from either plant, and the plant letter tells you which line built it.
European and UK builds need the catalog
The North American position tables come from US rules. A Land Rover built for the UK or Europe follows the international standard, which leaves the middle of the VIN to the manufacturer and requires no check digit, so position 9 on those cars may not be a check digit at all.
Treat positions 1 to 4 and position 11 as reliable on any Land Rover, and let the catalog read the rest. It holds the build data that the VIN only points to.
From the VIN to the part
Land Rover builds a lot of variation into one model name: coil or air suspension, several engines, different axles and market emissions hardware. Our guide to Jaguar and Land Rover parts by VIN covers the part number formats and why the VIN decides on these cars.
VINsearch opens the Land Rover and Jaguar parts catalog in the browser. Run the VIN through the free VIN decoder for the maker, country and year, then open the Land Rover catalog to see the diagrams and genuine part numbers for that build.
Frequently asked questions
What does SAL mean in a VIN?
SAL is the World Manufacturer Identifier for Land Rover, registered to Jaguar Land Rover Limited. Jaguar uses SAJ.
Where was my Land Rover built?
Read position 11. A is Solihull in England, H is Halewood in England and 2 is Nitra in Slovakia. A VIN starting with 99J comes from Brazil and one starting with L2C from the Chery Jaguar Land Rover joint venture in China.
Which character of a Land Rover VIN is the engine?
On North American cars from 2017 onward, position 8. X is the 2.0-liter Ingenium gasoline engine, U the 3.0-liter Ingenium six and E the 5.0-liter supercharged V8.
How do I tell an L405 Range Rover from an L460 by VIN?
Position 4. G is the L405 of 2013 to 2022 and K is the L460 from 2023 onward.