The twin car measures announced in February have affected COE prices in the first tender on Wednesday, but not exactly in the way observers expected.

COE for cars up to 1,600cc ended at $74,689, down slightly from $78,301 before the loans curb and tiered taxation system were announced.

COE for cars above 1,600cc plunged from $92,667 to $58,090, as did its proxy, Open COE, which closed sharply lower at $65,001 - down from $91,910.

This is the first time that buyers of a economy car like a Toyota Corolla will pay substantially more for a Certificate of Entitlement (COE) than the buyer of a luxury car like a Porsche 911 since the COE system was introduced 23 years ago.

The premium for commercial vehicles crept up from $53,489 to close at $53,900.

Motorcycle COE premiums ended at $1,895, up from $1,512.