Modern Vespa

Is your Piaggio / Vespa made in Vietnam Italy China.

The VIN has a number in the middle but what number is where made?

I think 5###### means Pontedera Italy but what about the others.

Last edited by Bigdaddy808 on Tue, 04 Oct 2022 19:24:31 +0000; edited 1 time

ZA is the usual first 2 letters for scooters assembled in Italy by Piaggio/Vespa.

This VIN code explanation on Wikipedia gives you most all the country codes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_identification_number

my 2019 supertech is RP8M45715KVxxxxxx and both the dealer and the asia pacific rep (based in singapore iirc?) who happened to be at my dealer when I was buying my scoot said that it was made* in vietnam.

I also know that the engine (think inc transmission) was shipped from italy to vietnam (found the shipping docs for these shipments!)


* I interpret as that's where the assembly line is, not necessarily where the majority of parts come from.

I have owned 4 Vespas - 2 GTS and 2 LX. The first four letters of the VIN were ZAPM in all cases, i.e. all assembled in Italy. I've also owned 3 Piaggio scooters - the first 4 letters of the VIN were also ZAPM in all cases. And I've owned one Aprilia scooter - the first 4 digits were ZD4V, also assembled in Italy.

The WIKI for VIN Decoding indicates the 11th digit of 5 is for assembled in Italy followed by the six digit serial number. But what about a 7 or other number?.? Also assembled elsewhere doesn't rule out Italian parts made in Italy? Can anyone make sense of this?
I think manufactured in Italy can still be assembled elsewhere. So we can't rely on the sticker where it reads "Made in ????????". Anyway does it really make a difference. As my cousin ANGRILY found out when he lifted the hood of his beautiful new Ferrari the valve covers had FIAT stamped on it.!!! (We all laughed for a week,,, except him,,, hahaha)





Last edited by Bigdaddy808 on Wed, 03 Aug 2022 10:20:13 +0000; edited 4 times

My Liberty VIN starts with ZAP and it has a Made In Vietnam sticker in the seat bucket.

Not so sure about this. The model year for example: my VIN's 10th digit is actually a letter ('N') not a number.

The rest looks correct, my 2022 GST is a ZAP-beginning VIN, and we (dealer and me) were tracking it from off the boat from Italy (Texas port) though to the dealership in California.

can you give us more digits? (hide the last 5 for privacy)

I think you are misreading how the code works. The first 2 digits indicate country of manufacture (i.e. assembly). The 3rd digit indicates the manufacturer. So ZAP indicates vehicles built by Piaggio in Italy (actually Piaggio, Vespa, and Gilera - as the Wikipedia key above indicates, the codes for Aprilia and Moto Guzzi are different than ZAP and probably date back to prior to their acquisition by Piaggio). The 11th digit is reserved for codes which the manufacturer uses for various assembly plants within the country indicated by the ZAP code. While 5 is certainly Piaggio's code for their facility in Pontadera, it is often difficult to find references for that digit - but it really isn't what you are trying to determine. And manufacturered (i.e. assembled) in any country doesn't rule out parts made elsewhere. All of us with newer Italian built scooters find "Made in China" on some components for example, and I am sure Vespas built at the Piaggio plant in Vietnam use some "Made in Italy" components. Building cars, trucks, and motorcycles/scooters is a multinational business these days.

Last edited by Dooglas on Wed, 03 Aug 2022 16:31:37 +0000; edited 2 times

Look at the Wikipedia reference in my post above. The model year or date digit is one of a series of numbers or letters. The letter 'N' is the code for 2022.

Here ya go.







Last edited by sc00ter on Wed, 03 Aug 2022 19:19:53 +0000; edited 1 time

Made in Vietnam.

Last edited by sc00ter on Wed, 03 Aug 2022 21:17:08 +0000; edited 1 time

Made in Italy (2001 ET2).

EU

Exactly as you previously said. The plastic bucket under the seat has an affixed sticker which says "Made in Vietnam". I don't think anyone implied they doubted you. Now, given the VIN number, "what" was made in Vietnam?

very interesting.

firstly taken at face value it disagrees with the wiki page posted earlier in this threat that asserts ZA is 'manufactured in italy' (I wouldn't interpret your 'made in vietnam' in any way other than the obvious).

next I see a K for year which wikipedia says is 2019 and my 10/19 supertech also has a K. But your compliance plate says 11/18? Hmmm.

lastly the plant code (manufacture specific) is a 7 not the more typical 5 for the vespas which we believe to be made in pondera. note: my vietnam scoot has a V here.

The company I work for sells Made In America products that contain domestic and foreign sourced components. But believe me when I say only the highest quality parts go into our products, regardless of were they are sourced. We invest heavily in quality control on every level. I suspect Piaggio does the same, regardless of were a scooter is assembled.

I think the 11/18 is the actual manufacturing month/year built while the K is for the 2019 model year designation.
The interesting pundit (joke) is that the highly skilled hard workers in the factories of Italy (Germany also ie BMW) are the many immigrant Chinese and Vietnamese peoples anyway!!!
I am still waiting on delivery but after all your input I will be proud if my scooter says Made in Vietnam.
I already know my VIN says ,,,N700xxxx so N is the 2022 model year and to be consistent the 7 is probably Made in Vietnam. Which really seems to infer is is assembled in Vietnam of the global Italian parts with some Chinese too. Hey,,, Whatever happened to Made in Japan for the electronics??

Last edited by Bigdaddy808 on Thu, 04 Aug 2022 00:37:55 +0000; edited 2 times

doesn't really work for me as an explanation. Here's a story ...

I went to the unveiling of the supertech in aus in mid oct/2019
I bought my scoot 1 week later. ie still oct/2019
my scoot was one of the first shipment that my dealer got.
the compliance sticker says 10/19.
my scoot has K in the vin.
wikipedia says K is 2019

I really doubt my bike had been made 10 months earlier ... but who really knows?

EDIT 1: an extra for the above story: the date written on the underside of my ecu is 30/nov/2018. the chances of that ecu getting shipped to viet and being installed into my scoot on the assembly line during dec/2018 i pretty small.
EDIT 2: found an old photo of my scoot and read the date code on the original tires. ya guessed it, "2019" which translates as May/2019

Last edited by SteelBytes on Thu, 04 Aug 2022 01:21:44 +0000; edited 3 times

yeah, we do make too much of the whole 'made in country x' thing.

Sorry,,, I was referring to the earlier post with a pic that read the 11/18 date for a model year 2019 Liberty.

yeah, but that pic shows 11/18 in the corner and also has a K in the V. that seems to conflict itself.

I think it is a manufacture date in November 2018 of a designated model year 2019 scooter. That makes sense. Thatz how they do it.

At this point my conclusion is that when something, any part really, says it is made in XXX it is, but only that part, not the whole scooter. The "country of manufacture" of the compliance plate and the VIN is where it was assembled. It's amazing how the bits and pieces of things are made in one place and then shipped all over the world as the finished project slowly emerges.

I've learned that fish caught wild in the North Pacific is often flash frozen and some is taken to factory ships where it is cleaned and prepared for market, but other is frozen and then transported to China where it is cleaned, cut up and prepared for market and then flown to the US. That wild Alaska salmon you buy may have been to China before it got to you.

Globalisation.

2006 Piaggio FLY 150 - ITALY

My BV 300 has a VIN code starting with "ZAPM692" meaning build in Italy by Piaggio and the model code is M692, thus a BV 300 ie.

If if says "ZAPMAMA" then it belongs to a local musician.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zap_Mama

I helped unbox my Liberty in Ohio.
It is a Liberty150i S made in Vietnam.
After 5 yrs of ownership I've found it to be well constructed.
I wanted a medium sized big wheel step thru scooter.
In 2017 there was only one to choose from in the USA.
O.S.

Last edited by OldSchooot on Tue, 30 Aug 2022 12:56:29 +0000; edited 1 time

Since my VIN plate would read ' MFD by Piaggio,,, ' , I may just save myself the embarrassment and scrape off the Made in Vietnam sticker in the seatbucket. After all I don't plan on selling it again. Plus itz nobody's business except mine once I bought it.
Kinda reminds me of the mattress tags that say Do Not Remove (except by the consumer). Itz my scoot so I decide what stickers go on it.
Problem solved. Italian Liberty!!

... or just stick one of these over your 'Made in Vietnam' sticker......

Where were they made?

Very true. Zap Mama, a Belgian music group around Marie Daulne.

Always found it funny that Italian made cars / scooters / motorcycles have a VIN code that starts with ZA. ZA sounds to me like Zuid-Afrika or South Africa.

Our Renault cars all had and have a VIN code starting with VF, meaning "Voiture Française" or French Car.

Probably the same place as all those American flag lapel pins.

I solved my problem two ways.
I scratched off the Made in ,,, sticker in my underseat bucket.
My FACO Flyscreen proudly says Made in Italy.


FACO Made in Italy

Are all the Primavera 150s made in Vietnam now?

I never even thought about it until now...

I checked the VIN on my HPE and it starts ZAP...
So I guess it was made by Piaggio in Italia.

My 2018 Primavera was made in 🇮🇹
My 19xx wife 😍 was made in 🇻🇳

Which one would you say is more f- you know what, forget I said anything

PS: Thanks. Might go look at a 2017 Primavera this week.