Brazil Decreto 12.549/2025 — IPI bonus-malus rate update for vehicles

Mechanism

Decreto 12.549/2025 is the mid-2025 recalibration of the IPI bonus-malus schedule that Lei 14.902/2024 (Programa Mover) established and Decreto 12.435/2025 first regulated. Rather than a flat rate cut or hike, the decree re-slots vehicles across the TIPI table by propulsion type, energy efficiency and domestic manufacturing content:

• Diesel-only models move up the schedule by as much as 12

percentage points, the largest single adjustment in the update.

• Electric and hybrid models move down by up to 2 percentage

points, subject to a 0% floor.

• "Carro Sustentável" status — reserved for compact, high

energy-efficiency vehicles assembled in Brazil that clear MDIC's lifecycle CO2 and recyclability thresholds — zeroes the IPI rate entirely.

The government frames the rebalancing as revenue-neutral: MDIC estimates roughly 60% of vehicles sold in Brazil in 2024 would fall into the reduced-rate bands under the new table. Complementary MDIC norms detailing certification procedure for "Carro Sustentável" status were still pending at publication.

Downstream implications

• Extends the tax-driven pressure (alongside Resolução Gecex 532's EV/hybrid

import tariffs) for automakers to localise EV/hybrid assembly and qualify for the zero-IPI tier rather than import finished units.

• Diesel light-vehicle and pickup lines lose relative price competitiveness

against gasoline/flex, hybrid and EV equivalents in the domestic market.

• Reinforces Brazil's Mover programme as a live, iteratively-tuned

bonus-malus instrument rather than a one-off statute — expect further TIPI table decrees as MDIC calibrates against realised sales mix.

Open questions

• Full MDIC certification criteria/procedure for "Carro Sustentável"

status were pending further complementary norms as of publication.

• Precise per-model IPI rate table (by engine displacement/power band)

requires the decree's technical annexes, not fully captured here.