Car COEs rebound while others continue slide

The two car certificates of entitlement (COE) rebounded from last fortnight's substantial falls, but remained relatively low at the latest tender yesterday.

COE for cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp rose by 10 per cent to end at $32,999. COE for cars above 1,600cc or 130bhp was 6.5 per cent higher at $32,889.

All other COE categories ended lower. Open COE, which can be used for any vehicle type except motorcycles but ends up mostly for bigger cars, closed 4.6 per cent lower at $33,301.

Commercial vehicle COE finished 0.05 per cent lower at $25,001. Motorcycle premium closed 2.1 per cent lower at $4,309.

Industry watchers reckon the latest results reflected a positive consumer response to price reductions following last fortnight's plunge in premiums.

But the market's underlying weakness, made worse by the coronavirus outbreak, is still apparent.

At the previous tender, COE for cars up to 1,600cc fell by 14.3 per cent, while COE for cars above 1,600cc fell by 18.1 per cent to hit its lowest in almost 10 years. Car dealers adjusted prices accordingly.

Mr Nicholas Wong, general manager of Honda agent Kah Motor, said: "Virus or not, people will buy cars when the COE drop is big enough.

"Bookings were quite good after the last round of results."

But motor traders point out that COE for bigger cars had rebounded by only 6.5 per cent despite having fallen to its lowest in almost 10 years.

"Overall, the market is still very weak," said Mr Neo Nam Heng, chairman of diversified motor group Prime. "After such a big price drop, some rebound is normal."

But he said the bids are weak considering that the quota size has been shrinking, and that dealers are slashing prices.