COE premiums for cars break record for second time in a row; Open COE rises to $118,990
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The COE premium for smaller cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp, as well as for electric vehicles with up to 110 kilowatts of power, finished at $96,501.
ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN
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SINGAPORE – Certificate of entitlement (COE) prices for the two car categories set new records again, and the Open category COE also hit a new high, in the tender exercise that closed on Wednesday.
The COE premium for smaller cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp, as well as for electric vehicles (EVs) with up to 110 kilowatts of power, finished at $96,501, a 3.21 per cent hike over the $93,503 record set two weeks ago.
For larger cars and more powerful EVs, the COE premium ended at $118,501 – 1.98 per cent over the previous high of $116,201.
The Open category COE price was the third one to set a record. It ended at $118,990, up 2.56 per cent from $116,020. The previous record of $118,001
Industry observers attributed the price increases to an anticipated reduction in COE supply for the next three-month period from May to July, and bids from companies supplying cars to ride-hailing services.
The tender drew 749 bids in the COE category for smaller and less powerful cars and EVs. This was comparable with the 768 bids registered two weeks ago, when the premium for this category of COE broke the 2013 record of $92,100.
Mr Nicholas Wong, general manager of Honda agent Kah Motor, believes that the bulk of the bids came from companies supplying cars to ride-hailing services, rather than private individuals.
“The showrooms have been empty over the past two weeks. Who are the dealers that managed to collect so many orders to need so many COEs?” he asked, adding that there should be a distinction between cars registered for private use and those rented out for private-hire or ride-hailing services.
Mr Chong Kah Wei, managing director of Mazda and McLaren, expects the COE supply to be down by 10 per cent in the coming three months, compared with the February to April period. This anticipated reduction may have prompted some to rush in on Wednesday, he said.
The Land Transport Authority is expected to announce the supply of COEs for the May to July period soon. Under the current policy, the main determinant of the number of COEs available for bidding is the number of vehicles taken off the road in the previous four quarters, or 12 months.
Commenting on the record COE price for smaller and less powerful cars, Mr Ng Lee Kwang, general manager of Goldbell Car Rental, said: “It used to be possible to service a car loan for around $800 a month. Now, that figure barely covers the COE part of the total price.”
The motorcycle COE premium closed at $12,001 on Wednesday, unchanged from the previous tender exercise.
At $76,801, the premium for commercial vehicle COEs – applicable to vans, trucks and lorries – was 10.06 per cent lower than the $85,389 posted a fortnight ago.
Mr Neo Nam Heng, adviser to the Automobile Importer and Exporter Association and chairman of diversified motor group Prime, said the drop in the commercial vehicle COE premium was in line with expectations.
This is because dealers who were rushing to register their existing stock of vans and buses to avoid having to be re-tested under a new regime that applies from April 1 would have done so by now.
