Vehicle registration plates of Mexico

Passenger car plate issued in Oaxaca.

Passenger car plate issued in Veracruz.

Passenger car plate issued in Chiapas.

Vehicle registration plates of Mexico are issued with unique visual designs by each state, but with one national numbering system, such that serials are not duplicated in multiple states. Most states change designs approximately every third year, with each state on its own plate replacement cycle. Every year owners Mexican plated vehicles pay the tenencia or revalidación de placas (car plates renewal tax). A set of Mexican plates includes one pair of plates, a windshield sticker, and in a few states a plate sticker.

In 2001 the size of the plate number was reduced in order to accommodate the addition of the state number, legend indicating the position of the plate on the vehicle (delantera (front) or trasera (rear)), and additional graphics.

Mexican plates are issued in several different classifications: Private, Private Fronteriza, Public, Public Frontera, Servicio Público Federal, Inspección Fiscal y Aduanera, Armada de México, and Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores. The Fronteriza plates were introduced in 1972 and are available in the Mexico-United States border zone. This zone is formed by the Baja California and Baja California Sur states, as well as parts of Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Tamaulipas. While the state of Nuevo León shares a 15-kilometre (9.3 mi) border with the U.S., it does not have any cities within the border zone.

European-style license plates have become popular, as with this example of an unofficial remake of a Baja California plate. Unofficial plates are legaloid: they remain technically illegal, but in practice they are tolerated. However, it should be noted that for most (all?) states you can choose between Euro style plates and the more common (US) style plates

Plate types

Passenger car plate of Guerrero.

Passenger car plate of Morelos.

Private, non-border zone

Type	Serial format
Antique automobile	AB-12
	AB-123 in Distrito Federal
Bus	1-ABC-23
Dealership demo car	1-AB-234
Handicapped driver	123-AB
Motorcycle	A123B in Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Colima, Estado de México, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Puebla, Tlaxcala, Zacatecas); A 123 B in Guanajuato
	ABC12 (following exhaustion of A123B allocation?) in Durango, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Michoacán, Quintana Roo, Yucatán); ABC 12 in Querétaro
	1234 A in Distrito Federal
Passenger	ABC-12-34
	123-ABC in Distrito Federal
RV and Trailer	1-AB-2345
Truck	AB-12-345
	12-34-AB in Distrito Federal

Public, non-border zone

Type	Serial format
Bus	123-456-A
	123-45-67 in Distrito Federal, where the first three numbers denotes the bus route number
	123-AB-456 in Estado de Mexico-Distrito Federal joint Transporte Metropolitano issues, where the letters denotes the municipality
RV	A-123-456
Taxi	12-34-ABC (A/B-12345 for free taxis and M-12345 for site taxis in D.F.)
Truck	1-ABC-234

Private, border zone

Type	Serial format
Antique Automobile	AB-12
Bus	ZAB-12-34
Handicapped	123-AB
Passenger	123-ABC-4
	BAC-12-34 in Baja California
Truck	ZAB-12-34
	BA-12-345 in Baja California

Public, border zone

Type	Serial format
Bus	12-34-Z AB
Taxi	12-34-ZAB
Truck	12-34-ZAB

Public Federal Service (SPF)

Type	Serial format
Freight (purple plate)	123-AB-4
Passengers (orange plate)	123-AB-4
Tourism (green plate)	123-AB-4
Border freight (tan plate)	123-AB-4
Hauling (yellow/orange plate)	1234-AB
Rental (blue plate)
Handicapped (burgundy plate)
Diplomatic (blue plate with Aztec symbol)
I.F.A. (white with dark blue letters)

Seguridad Pública (Local, State or Federal Police and related)

Type	Serial format
All vehicles	01-234 (all patrol vehicles, and official-use vehicles from the federal judiciary)

Current series for the Federal District

Passenger car plate issued in Distrito Federal.

The current 000-AAA plate series for Mexico City was introduced in 1972, allowing registration for 10,950,300 private automobiles. This series was not affected by plate designs, and continued to be used until its ending in early 2015 (999-ZZZ). However, in 2001 all vehicles using combinations around 000-LWU and older received all-new combinations beginning in 000-MAA. Following the established series, vehicles after 999-ZZZ are registered as A01-AAA, in order to not use a combination used in the past.

• 000-LAA for late 2000 and 2001 (plate redesign and full registration renewal around 000-LWU)
• 000-MAA, 000-NAA and 000-PAA were issued as replacement for older combinations and a few new registrations in 2003.
• 000-RAA for late 2001 and 2002 new registrations
• 000-SAA for late 2002 and 2003
• 000-TAA for late 2003 and 2004
• 000-UAA for 2005 and 2006
• 000-VAA for 2007 and early 2008 (plate redesign around 155-VSV and 865-VSV)
• 000-WAA for 2008 and 2009
• 000-XAA for 2010 and 2011
• 000-YAA for 2012 and 2013 (plate redesign after 999-YVT)
• 000-ZAA for 2014 and early 2015
• A00-AAA for 2015 onwards

Another Type of License plate is for the operation of public transport in Metropolitan Routes Crossing to the State Of Mexico Metropolitan Area.