Certificate of entitlement (COE) premiums ended lower for cars and motorcycles at the latest tender yesterday as buyers stayed away after prices rebounded two weeks ago.

The COE price for cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp finished 2.7 per cent lower at $41,761. The premium for cars above 1,600cc or 130bhp closed 2.2 per cent lower at $48,109.

The premium for Open COE, which can be used for any vehicle except motorcycles but which ends up mostly for bigger cars, ended 0.02 per cent lower at $49,000.

Motorcycle premium took the biggest plunge, falling by 8.9 per cent to finish at $5,010.

Commercial vehicle COE price, however, bucked the trend by ending 4.3 per cent higher at $48,902.

Motor traders said fresh bookings at car showrooms had slowed considerably after price hikes following a rebound in premiums two weeks ago.

After car COEs plunged to as low as $36,001 in the first tender of September, there was a spike in demand. This caused premiums to bounce back in the previous tender.

Mr Ron Lim, general manager of Nissan agent Tan Chong Motors, said: "The market has softened after the huge jump in prices last month. There were very few new orders."

He said dealers are still clearing a backlog of bookings made earlier last month. If not for the backlog, yesterday's correction would have been bigger, especially now that taxi companies and private-hire operators have stopped ordering new vehicles, he added.

The number of bids for car COEs submitted (including Open) yesterday was 5,323 - 15 per cent fewer than two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, motor dealers are uncertain how a new emission-pegged taxation scheme starting next year will influence COE prices. This is because the exact impact on each model is still unclear. Christopher Tan