By Célio Yano
The government announced on Thursday (25) a tax benefits program for automakers.
The intention is to lower the cost of so-called popular cars and stimulate the production chain of the automotive sector.
According to the vice president and Minister of Development, Industry, and Commerce, Geraldo Alckmin (PSB), the program will allow vehicle prices to drop from 1.5% to 10.96%.
The companies will benefit from IPI, PIS, and Cofins exemptions on cars up to R$120,000 – cars above this level will not be able to participate in the program.
According to the government, 33 models of 11 brands will be impacted.
“The stimulus proposal is transitory and anti-cyclical, for this moment in which the industry is very idle,” he said.
The benefit will be instituted through a provisional measure (MP) based on a study by the Ministry of Finance, which has undertaken to present a proposal of percentages within 15 days.
“The maximum discount would be 10.79%, and the minimum 1.5%,” said Alckmin. Later, the ministry’s advisory corrected the maximum number to 10.96%.
The concession of new tax breaks goes against the discourse of the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, who has defended a reduction in this type of benefit since the beginning of the government.
Three criteria will be considered to have access to the tax discount.
The first is related to the category of cars.
“Today, the cheapest car is almost R$70,000. We want to reduce this value.”
“The smaller, the more accessible it is, and the bigger the IPI, PIS, and Cofins discounts will be.”
“So, the first item is social,” said the vice president.
Another requirement is related to energy efficiency. Cars with lower CO2 emissions will have greater benefits.
The last criterion is local content.
“The whole world seeks to strengthen its industry. So if I have an industry where 50% of the car is made in Brazil, and another where it is 90%, this will be considered,” he explained.
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There may also be reductions defined by automakers and others related to the sale of cars directly from the factory.
The president of the National Association of Motor Vehicles Manufacturers (Anfavea), Marcio Lima Leite, said that the initiatives announced by the government to cheapen popular cars could take prices below R$60,000.
Today, the cheapest passenger cars in Brazil are the compact Fiat Mobi and the Renault Kwid, with a 1.0 engine, both sold for R$69,000 in their most basic versions.
According to the government, the renewal of the fleet in circulation is aligned with the objectives of the Rota 2030 Program, launched in the administration of Michel Temer (MDB) and whose general goal is to reduce by 50% the CO2 emissions from motor vehicles by 2030, compared to 2005.
Another measure that will be adopted, but only starting next year, is an accelerated depreciation program, through which the industry will have tax discounts on updating obsolescent goods.
The idea is to stimulate companies to renew their industrial parks.
“This needs to be foreseen in the Budget so that it would be for 2024, and then the percentage of accelerated depreciation and the amount will be defined.
On Wednesday (24), Haddad said that part of the actions studied by the government to encourage the automotive industry should be left until next year.
“We presented to the president some possibilities of measures to stimulate the industry. Now it is his decision,” said the Finance Minister.
At the press conference this morning, Alckmin also said the president of the National Economic and Social Development Bank (BNDES), Aloizio Mercadante, will announce two lines of credit totaling R$4 billion for financing, in dollars, for exporting companies.
The possibility of using the Severance Premium Reserve Fund (FGTS) as collateral for car financing, which the government had studied, was not included in the package. Another item left out was the reduction in the ICMS tax for the automotive sector.
The announcement of the measures was made after a meeting at the Planalto Palace, with representatives of entities from the automotive sector and trade union centrals, also attended by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), and the Ministers of the Civil House, Rui Costa, and Finance, Fernando Haddad.
Since the beginning of the current administration, the automobile industry has been in dialogue with the government in the search for measures to help the sector recover, which has stagnated since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.
Several automakers are temporarily suspending production or cutting shifts in factories due to component supply problems and low demand.
Earlier this month, during the first meeting of the Council for Sustainable Economic and Social Development, Lula criticized car prices in Brazil.
“What poor person can buy a popular car for R$90,000? A R$90,000 car is not popular. It is for the middle class,” he said.
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