Cat B COE rate falls by 8.8% to $110,890 as premiums drop across the board

SINGAPORE - Certificate of entitlement (COE) prices for bigger cars dropped by 8.8 per cent to $110,890 as premiums fell across all categories on Feb 4.

It mirrored a trend observed in 2024 and 2025, when COE prices dipped during the final tender exercise before the Chinese New Year, as holiday festivities cooled market demand.

The price of a Category A certificate, meant for smaller and less powerful cars and electric vehicles (EVs), came in at $106,320, 2.9 per cent lower than the $109,501 in

the previous exercise on Jan 21

.

The Category B COE premium for larger and more powerful cars and EVs tumbled from $121,634 in the previous exercise to $110,890. This was the biggest drop among the five COE categories in the tender exercise.

At $116,000, the price of an Open category (Category E) COE slipped by 4 per cent, from $120,891. Open category certificates can be used to register any vehicle type except motorcycles, but are mostly used for bigger cars.

As Open category certificates are transferrable, many motor dealers secure them for the flexibility to register cars without having to wait for the next tender exercise.

The commercial vehicle (Category C) COE premium dipped by 0.5 per cent, from $75,202 to $74,801.

The COE premium for motorcycles (Category D) dropped by 6.4 per cent, from $8,860 to $8,289.

A COE is required to register and use a vehicle in Singapore, and this is the first of six tender exercises under the

current three-month quota period from February to April

.

After the Feb 4 exercise closed, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said COE prices remained high, despite the recent drop, reflecting sustained demand.

LTA said: “We advise car buyers and dealers to be prudent in bidding for COEs.”

The dip in COE prices comes after premiums for the two car categories rose in the Jan 21 exercise, fuelled by demand from the four-day Singapore Motorshow, which ended on Jan 11.

Motor dealers told The Straits Times that showrooms had been quiet since then, with the higher COE premiums keeping buyers away.

Mr Lee Hoe Lone, managing director of Premium Automobiles, which distributes various Chinese EV brands, said that many consumers who wanted a car would have already bought one at the January motor show.

The lack of interest was reflected in the bidding on Feb 4, where the price of a certificate meant for large cars remained at $1 until the final 10 minutes.

Mr Jason Lim, managing director of Eurokars Auto BMW, said that some dealers placed bids for the Open category COEs in the final minutes of the exercise to get certificates they could use to register cars before the next exercise.

Ms Adelene Tan, commercial growth and customer excellence director of Sime Motors, which distributes various car brands including BYD, said that the majority of the bids in the two car categories would be for vehicles that had been sold earlier but were unsuccessful in getting their COEs then.

Ms Tan also said that the revised vehicular emissions scheme (VES), which came into effect on Jan 1, also dampened demand for larger vehicles, which incur an additional $7,500 surcharge in 2026 compared with 2025. This nudged some buyers to go for models in the COE category for smaller cars.

Mr Raymond Ng, managing director of Eurokars EV, which distributes Chinese brand MG, said that without the need to register cars before the VES transition like they had before Jan 1, dealers are also less pressured to fight for COEs and chase up the premium.