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What are the main changes between the gray license plate and the Mercosur license plate?

A letter in place of one of the numbers is just one of the many changes between the gray license plate and the standard Mercosur license plate. See the changes and what was added to the new license plate:

Colors

The color is the first difference to be noticed. While the old standard plate is gray with black letters and numbers, the new standard plate has a blue and white background with black letters and numbers. Some say that the colors of the old plate show a more obsolete style, while the new plate appears to be much more modern and elegant.

Location

While the gray plate shows the abbreviation of the state in which the vehicle was registered and the city, in the format SIG-STATE, the new plate shows the coat of arms of Mercosur and the name, flag and abbreviation of the country of origin of the plate. It is important to note that the initial project also aimed to add the flags of the state and city of origin of the plate, but both were removed before the new plate was made official.

QR-Code

An important element that was added to the new plate, which the old plate did not have, is the unique QR code located in the upper left corner. This code, because it is exclusive, allows for the differentiation of the plates and better regularization, considering that with the presence of the code, it is much more difficult for the plates to be cloned.

Letters and numbers

In order to increase the possibilities of letter and number combinations between plates, the new Mercosul plate configuration has four letters and three numbers, in the format XXX0X00, unlike the gray plate, which has the format XXX0000, with three letters and four numbers.

Although the change presents a very different model, the choice of new letters and numbers (in case of plate change) is not done randomly. The letter that replaces the second number corresponds to its position in the alphabet according to the old number. Thus, the number 0 will be replaced by the letter A, the number 1 by the letter B, the number 2 by the letter C and so on.

So, a gray plate that has the format ABC1234, if exchanged for a Mercosul plate, will become ABC1C34.

Who needs to change to the Mercosur license plate?

Although the main objective is to standardize license plates throughout Mercosur, changing the license plate is not mandatory for all vehicles. The gray license plate must be replaced with the new license plate only in the event of a transfer of ownership or municipality of the vehicle. However, these are not the only situations in which the new license plate will appear. All new cars manufactured from January 2020 onwards must be licensed with the new Mercosur standard. In addition, if the license plate of the vehicle (even if it is not new) is considered damaged or illegible by a traffic inspector, it must also be replaced with a plate in the new standard.

The items listed above refer only to cases in which changing the license plate is mandatory, but this does not mean that this is the only way to make the change in other situations. If the owner of the vehicle wishes, it is also possible to make the change, and we will explain how you can do it later in this article.

Why do some of the new license plates have different colors?

If you are one of those people who pays attention to every new license plate you see, you have probably come across one that has a different color and didn’t understand why.

The truth is that there are 6 color variations in the new plates, which appear in the digits and edges of the plate. See what they are and their meanings:

Black: The plate with black writing and edges identifies a private vehicle, without any major purpose.

Red: The red plate corresponds to commercial vehicles, that is, those used for transporting cargo or passengers. It should be used on city buses, taxis, vans, cargo trucks, etc.

Green: Green plates correspond to special vehicles, generally used for testing, whether of new car models, prototype testing or new technologies.

Blue: The plate with blue writing and edges represents official vehicles, used by international authorities.

Gold: Gold plates are diplomatic plates, and are used by government authorities and employees of the armed forces.

Silver: Finally, the plates with silver lettering and edges are the plates that identify collector vehicles, which were known for being black on the old plates.

How do I change to the Mercosur plate?

If you need (or want) to use the new plate, you will first have to go to the traffic department in your municipality and request a new CRV (Vehicle Registration Certificate). The local traffic department will then be responsible for issuing a permit, informing Denatran (National Traffic Department) that the plate can be made. These processes aim to better centralize information regarding national license plates.

Once the license plate has been issued, the car owner can go to a supplier of their choice to have the new plate issued (official and legalized suppliers can be found on the website of the municipal traffic department).

Despite being more complex and modern, the values ​​for exchanging the new plate have not changed significantly when compared to the value for exchanging the old plates. Currently (October 2021), license plates cost an average of R$200 for cars and trucks and R$150 for motorcycles.

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