Cat A COE premium hits new record of $128,105; Cat B price climbs to $141,000
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The higher COE prices was attributed to several factors, including the longer gap from the last COE exercise and a car roadshow in end-September.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
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- The COE premium in Singapore hit a new high, with Category A reaching $128,105 on Oct 8.
- LTA attributed this to a longer tender gap, car roadshows, cheaper EVs, and reduced clean-energy vehicle incentives that will kick in from 2026.
- Experts predict high COE premiums until end-2025, but a drop is expected afterwards.
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SINGAPORE – The certificate of entitlement (COE) premium for smaller cars and electric vehicles (EVs) reached another high of $128,105 at the Oct 8 exercise, up 7.6 per cent from the previous tender.
This is the third consecutive tender where a record was set in Category A, which is meant for smaller and less powerful cars and EVs.
The previous high was $119,003, recorded at the tender
The premium for Category B COEs, used to register larger and more powerful cars and EVs, was $141,000 – a 3 per cent increase from the $136,890 registered at the last exercise.
It is the highest the Category B COE price has been since the record of $150,001 was set in October 2023.
Shortly after the latest COE results, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) issued a statement attributing the higher COE prices to several factors, including the three-week gap from the last exercise, which is longer than the usual two-week interval, and a car roadshow in end-September.
It was referring to The Car Expo on Sept 27 and 28 organised by SPH Media, which publishes The Straits Times.
“More broadly, the lower costs of EVs, especially from China, as well as the (impending) reduction of incentives for cleaner-energy vehicles, have also added to demand. We advise car buyers to be prudent in bidding for COEs,” LTA added.
Before the tender closed at 4pm on Oct 8, motor dealers said they expected COE prices in the two car categories to surpass those from the previous round.
They pointed to the high number of unsuccessful bids at the last round, where the number of Category A COE bids received exceeded supply by about 99 per cent.
Academics and motor dealers expect COE premiums to stay high until at least the end of 2025, as sellers race to register cars before the incentives taper from 2026.
At the Oct 8 exercise, there were 2,572 Category A COE bids entered. Fewer than half – 1,239 bids – were successful.
LTA said 9 per cent of Category A certificates at the Oct 8 exercise went to car-leasing companies.
In March, Dr Amy Khor, then Senior Minister of State for Transport, said in Parliament that private-hire cars owned by businesses formed 6 per cent of successful Category A COE bids in February.
Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow told Parliament in September that car-leasing companies won fewer than 10 per cent of COE bids in 2025. He did not break this down by category.
Bidders who failed to get a COE three weeks ago would have been among those vying for a certificate in the Oct 8 round, keeping premiums high. A COE is required to register a vehicle in Singapore, and the cost of a certificate is usually included in the price of a vehicle.
The dealers said a high proportion of the bids on Oct 8 would have been for cars sold on the back of LTA’s announcement
And after The Car Expo, dealerships – including familiar names and new Chinese car brands – continued their efforts to drum up sales with promotions and roadshows at shopping malls.
Associate Professor Walter Theseira, a transport economist at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, said car dealers competing for market share fuelled the persistent increases in COE premiums.
He said the reported oversupply of EVs in China
He said buyers who are rushing in now for fear of COEs becoming even more expensive ignore the fact that the COE supply will increase in the coming years.
COE supply is driven primarily by the number of vehicles being deregistered. The number of cars reaching the end of their COE lifespan and being scrapped has been climbing since the trough in 2023, and is projected to peak around 2026 or 2027.
Dr Zafar Momin, an adjunct professor at NUS Business School, expects COE premiums to ease in the new year, after the rush to register cars before the deadline.
Incentives for EVs will be cut from 2026 by up to $10,000.
Ms Corinne Chua, managing director of Swedish brand Volvo at distributor Wearnes Automotive, said the market is crowded with EVs competing in Category A, and this is reflected in the record COE premium.
She cautioned that if demand for such EVs persists, COE premiums may not ease in the near future.
Mr Ernest Tan, deputy chief executive of the Vincar Group, which distributes Chinese EV brand Aion and eMas, an EV brand by Malaysian carmaker Proton, said car COE premiums could rise even further owing to the number of unsuccessful bids at the latest tender.
Mr Raymond Ng, managing director of Eurokars EV, which distributes Chinese brand MG, said the pressure on dealers to hit their year-end targets could drive up COE premiums for the rest of 2025, as they step up marketing efforts to woo customers and register cars within the year.
On Oct 8, the price of an Open category (Category E) COE was $140,009 – 0.4 per cent lower than the $140,502 recorded at the previous tender.
Open category certificates can be used to register any vehicle type other than motorcycles, but are almost always used for bigger and more powerful cars.
At $74,301, the COE price for commercial vehicles (Category C) climbed by 2.5 per cent, from $72,501.
The motorcycle (Category D) COE price was 6.5 per cent higher than the $9,209 registered at the previous tender.
