K-Type number
K-Type · ktypnr · KType · TecDoc vehicle type number
The K-Type (or ktypnr) is the number a TecDoc-standard catalogue assigns to a precise vehicle version: model, engine, production period, body type. It is the technical key through which a catalogue links a vehicle to the part numbers that apply to it — a catalogue identifier, not an official vehicle identifier.
Director of publication : Florian Précigout
It should not be confused with the VIN or with national homologation numbers. The VIN identifies one unit, homologation numbers belong to national type approval, the K-Type belongs to a private cataloguing reference system. The three coexist and cannot be mechanically derived from one another.
In practice, a clean identification chain converts what is known about the vehicle — plate, VIN, or a manual make/model/engine entry — into a K-Type, and it is that K-Type that queries the catalogue. When the conversion fails or returns several candidates, no part number can be proposed with confidence: a criterion is missing, and that criterion should be asked for rather than guessed.
The reference system belongs to TecAlliance and its use is licensed. A distributor running a TecDoc catalogue does so under its own licence, and the identifiers derived from it stay within that framework.
The trap
Treating a K-Type as universal data. It only means something inside the reference system and version that issued it: passing it to a third party running a different catalogue will not help them.
Frequently asked
What is the difference between a K-Type and a VIN?
The VIN identifies one vehicle, issued by the manufacturer. The K-Type identifies a vehicle version inside a parts catalogue. One is an identity, the other a lookup key.
Can a K-Type be obtained from a number plate?
Indirectly, and not always unambiguously. The plate leads to the registered vehicle, from which a version is inferred — but when several versions remain candidates, one more criterion is needed.