CAP codes are white space sensitive, they often have leading whitespaces. So you need to store " PINGPONG", but if you store "PINGPONG" then you are going to be a in world of hurt.
Then each manufacturer has their own code (e.g BMW has IVS, Stellantis has titre and so on).
Then there are mapping files between CAP and manufacturer specific code.
Then manufacturers often need to quickly react to new models being available so you get things like overrides, which is literally a string replace "OO" with "XX" and that makes it into a "electric diesel".
Then along side CAP codes, you other industry codes (e.g. Glasses, HPI).
And they _ALL_ need to interact with each other.
It sounds like a fun problem to solve, it isn't. You basically become a glorified data mangler.
Position 4 (3) - Vehicle Line:
1 = Model S
3 = Model Y
7 = Model X
F = Model 3
That said, while some details differ, the 17-character codes are largely compatible across standards although it seems that the check digit is unique to the US market.
For example Alfa Romeo has Z, followed by AR; Fiat has ZFA. German-made BMWs (as opposed to US-made ones) have WB...
Also this kind of short sentence construction is used in the incredibly annoying and pervasive style of headlines for opinion pieces: X is Y. And it's Z. (where Z is often "not OK" or "OK").
I assume all this overuse is where LLMs picked it up and weighted it highly.