Certificate of entitlement (COE) premiums ended mixed at the latest tender yesterday as year-end promotions countered prevailing market weakness on the back of economic uncertainty.

The most telling was the COE price for commercial vehicles, which ended at its lowest in more than eight years.

The COE price for cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp finished 6.7 per cent higher at $32,000, while that for cars above 1,600cc or 130bhp closed at $39,700, 0.8 per cent lower than at the previous tender two weeks ago.

Prices for Open category COEs, which can be used for any vehicle type except motorcycles but which end up mostly for bigger cars, finished 2 per cent higher at $40,889.

This narrows the COE price difference between small and big cars to $7,700, from $10,000 at the previous tender.

Industry watchers said car COE premiums should have ended lower if not for aggressive sales promotions and private-hire players' fleet purchases. Mr Nicholas Wong, general manager for Honda agent Kah Motor, said the Category A (cars up to 1,600cc) premium was $25,000 "up to five minutes before closing".

"Private-hire firms are still buying cars," he said, adding that they have shifted from big to small cars.

Elsewhere, BMW agent Performance Motors launched a promotion for the 2-series last weekend, with prices starting from $118,888 - almost equivalent to the price of a Volkswagen Golf.

Land Transport Authority figures showed that 3,339 bids for car COEs (including Open) were received, 5 per cent more than in the previous tender.

The commercial vehicle COE price closed 3.5 per cent lower at $24,502 - its lowest since May 2011, underscoring weak business sentiment. Motorcycle premiums ended 4.4 per cent lower at $3,921.

Said Nissan agent Tan Chong Motor's head of sales and marketing Ron Lim: "The market is really weak. It's a reflection of the continuous poor outlook going into next year."

Christopher Tan