The Mexican government has once again extended the deadline for legalizing used vehicles imported primarily from the United States, according to an announcement by Rosa Icela Rodríguez Velázquez, the head of the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC).
The news was revealed during the regular morning press conference led by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Tuesday, June 27.
The program to regularize the so-called carros chocolates that has been under way since last year was scheduled to end on June 30. Under its fifth consecutive extension, it will now continue at least until September 30, the SSPC chief stated. She explained that the decision was made due to a long waiting list of people who have requested appointments over previous months to comply with the procedure for obtaining Mexican registration and license plates to legally drive eligible vehicles manufactured abroad within the boundaries in this country.
The regularization program has generated nearly four billion pesos for the nation’s tax agency SAT, funds which are earmarked for paving roads in municipalities located in participating states. The revenue figures represent 52.7 percent of funds obtained solely in the states of Tamaulipas, Chihuahua and Baja California. Other states where the program is authorized are Sonora, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Baja California Sur, Sinaloa, Durango, Zacatecas, Puebla, Michoacán, Nayarit and Jalisco.
The SAT fee is set at 2,500 pesos per vehicle. SSPC data shows that 1,580,797 “chocolates” were legalized between March 19 and June 26.
Details on the program requirements and procedures are posted on the www.gob.mx website under the title “Regularización de vehículos usados de procedencia extrajnera.”