COE prices fall in all categories except motorcycles; Cat A premium down 9.2% to $85,000
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The Feb 5 exercise is the first tender in a new three-month quota period, when there are 8.2 per cent more COEs.
PHOTO: ST FILE
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SINGAPORE – Certificate of entitlement (COE) prices fell for all categories except motorcycles on Feb 5, with the category for smaller cars seeing the sharpest drop of 9.2 per cent.
The premium for a Category A COE – meant for smaller and less powerful cars and electric vehicles (EVs) – fell by $8,601 to $85,000 after the $93,601 recorded at the previous exercise on Jan 22.
This is also the lowest premium for the category since the first bidding exercise of March 2024, when it was $83,000.
The Feb 5 tender is the first COE exercise in the three-month quota period from February to April. There are 8.2 per cent more certificates
For a Category B COE, used to register larger and more powerful cars and EVs, the premium is $111,104 – 4.7 per cent lower than $116,625 previously.
The price of an Open category (Category E) COE is $110,000. This is 4.4 per cent lower than the $115,112 registered two weeks ago.
Open category certificates can be used to register any vehicle type other than motorcycles, but are almost always used for bigger, more powerful cars.
The commercial vehicle (Category C) COE premium fell by 4.5 per cent to $62,506, from $65,476.
The motorcycle COE price bucked the downward trend. It came in at $8,289 – 7.4 per cent higher than the $7,721 from the previous exercise, when the premium tumbled by 14.2 per cent from $9,001.
A COE is needed to register a vehicle for use in Singapore. Vehicle prices tend to include the cost of a COE.
At the Feb 5 exercise, Category B recorded 6 per cent fewer bids than it did in the previous tender. The number of Category A bids was 2.6 per cent lower than on Jan 22. Motor dealers attributed the drop in bids and lower premiums to the Chinese New Year break in late January when showrooms were closed and thus had fewer business days.
Business has also been slow since they reopened because many customers were travelling during the festival and did not return immediately after the public holidays on Jan 29 and 30, the traders said.
Mr Ng Choon Wee, commercial director of Hyundai agent Komoco Motors, said that some prospective car buyers were holding out for the latest tender results before making their purchase decisions. They wanted to know how premiums would pan out in the new three-month quota period after the higher COE supply kicks in, he added.
Mr Chong Kah Wei, managing director for Mazda at Trans Eurokars, said that the latest dip in the Category A premium will prompt owners looking to replace their older cars to shop for a new vehicle.
Mr Nicholas Wong, chief executive of Honda agent Kah Motor, said the latest fall in COE premiums will draw customers to showrooms, even though the price of a Category A certificate remains high.
Motor traders are expected to lower car prices in the wake of the latest COE tender results, but not necessarily by the full extent of the fall in premiums.
While some brands such as Mazda intend to lower car prices by the full extent of the drop in premiums, others said that they may not do so. That is because they expect COE prices to rebound at the next round as interest from buyers returns. If car prices are set too low, the dealers may not have sufficient margin to secure the COEs they need.
