Certificate of entitlement (COE) prices ended mixed in the latest tender that closed yesterday, as private-hire firms propped up demand in an otherwise lacklustre market.

The COE premium for cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp closed barely changed at $31,759, or 0.08 per cent lower than two weeks ago.

The COE price for cars above 1,600cc or 130bhp finished 2.8 per cent higher at $37,000.

The premium for the open COE - which can be used for any vehicle type except motorcycles but ends up mostly for bigger cars - climbed 5.5 per cent to hit $40,000.

Motor traders noticed that private-hire firms submitted tranches of bids in the closing minutes of the tender.

These players typically buy petrol-electric hybrid cars, which mostly exceed 1,600cc or 130bhp.

Others said the drop in prices in the previous two exercises had drawn buyers back to showrooms.

Category B (cars above 1,600cc or 130bhp) had fallen from $40,001 in the first exercise of last month to $36,001 in the first exercise of this month.

Mr Neo Nam Heng, chairman of diversified motor group Prime, said: "There are a number of new models on the market. And Mercedes, BMW and even Audi have been pricing aggressively to attract buyers."

Mr Ron Lim, head of sales and marketing at Nissan agent Tan Chong Motor, noted that the market on the whole was still relatively weak, but bidders might have been expecting more sales ahead, with three weeks to the next tender exercise, as well as the upcoming Cars@Expo retail event next month.

Meanwhile, the commercial vehicle COE price closed 0.2 per cent higher at $25,556.

The motorcycle COE premium posted the biggest change, falling by 11.9 per cent to settle at $3,601.

Mr Neo said premiums are more stable now, and are unlikely to fluctuate much for the rest of the year. Christopher Tan