Certificate of Entitlement premiums ended lower for small cars or those up to 1,600cc. Premiums went down to $64,209 - 16.3 per cent lower than the $74,689 earlier this month.

When the second bidding for March closed at 4pm on Wednesday, luxury cars or those above 1,600cc however ended higher at $73,900 - 27.2 per cent up from $58,090.

Open COEs, which are used mainly for bigger cars, ended 36 per cent higher at $73,301. Premiums for this category in the previous bidding earlier this month were $53,900.

Commercial vehicles COE premiums closed at $54,111, up 0.4 per cent from $53,900, while motorcycle premiums ended at $1,909, 0.7 per cent up from $1,895 in the last bidding.

* The prefix 1 in the months (eg 1-Jun-2006) indicates the first COE bid for the month, while a 2 prefix (2-Jun-2006) indicates the second bid for the month.
** Chart starts from the April 2002 bidding exercise. That was when the COE Open bidding system - where bidders are allowed to track the prevailing strike price "live" - fully replaced the Closed bidding system

Data Source: Land Transport Authority
Graphics: Derrick Ho | Last Updated: Mar 27, 2013 16:05hrs

Click here for a bigger chart.

At a glance: COE prices over the past 10 years

2003-2007
COE premiums dropped after the government tweaked the COE quota formula in 2003, leading to a bumper supply of certificates. By early 2006, COE prices in all categories had fallen below $10,000. But in April 2007, when the quota for COEs was cut by as much as 19 per cent for cars up to 1,600c, prices started going up.

Nov 2008
The financial crisis saw COE premiums for small cars plunge to a record low of $2 from $10,455. Premiums for all other categories also ended sharply lower as demand for new vehicles tanked. Demand was also affected by how banks and finance houses were more stringent about approving vehicle loans.

2009-2012
Premiums started off soft at the start of 2009 but rose thereafter as the government moved to crimp the growth of the vehicle population. March and April 2010, for example, saw sharp price spikes after the government changed the formula for calculating COE supply.

Early 2013
Premiums for small cars surged to a historic high of $92,100 at the start of the year. Premiums for the Open category inched towards $100,000. In February, the government announced curbs to car loans and introduced a tiered Additional Registration Fee system that imposes significantly heftier taxes on luxury cars. At the first tender in March, COEs for bigger cars plunged by 37.3 per cent to a two-year-low, while those for small cars dropped by only 4.6 per cent.