COE prices for smaller cars dip to $92,700, premiums for bigger cars inch up to $105,689
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The Category A COE premium dropped for the second consecutive time on May 23.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
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SINGAPORE - The certificate of entitlement (COE) premium for smaller cars dipped for a second consecutive tender exercise, while that for larger cars inched up at the latest tender exercise on May 23.
The price of COEs for smaller, less powerful cars and electric vehicles (Category A) ended at $92,700 – down 1 per cent from $93,604 at the previous tender. At the previous bidding exercise on May 8,
At $105,689, Category B COEs meant for larger, more powerful cars and electric vehicles went up by 0.7 per cent, from $105,002 before.
The Open category (Category E) premium inched up to $105,002 – 0.3 per cent above the $104,689 recorded two weeks ago. These certificates can be used to register any vehicle type other than motorcycles, but are almost always used for bigger, more powerful cars.
The COE premium for commercial vehicles (Category C) was up 2.9 per cent to end at $72,001, climbing from $70,001.
At $9,311, the motorcycle COE (Category D) premium dipped by 2 per cent from $9,503.
COEs give people the right to own and use a vehicle in Singapore.
The number of COEs available is determined on a three-month basis and new vehicles are usually sold with the certificate included, so bidding is done by motor dealers. Private individuals can bid for COEs themselves, but that is not common.
Combined, there were a total of 2,838 bids entered for Categories A, B and E – down 10.9 per cent from the 3,186 bids at the previous exercise.
Some dealers saw this as a sign of weaker demand for cars this round, although the number of bids was still 23.6 per cent more than what was seen at the first exercise in January.
Various dealers, including Mr Ng Choon Wee, commercial director of Hyundai distributor Komoco Motors, said customers for Category A cars are holding back as the premium is still too high for mass-market models.
The dip in the premium seen at the first exercise in May may have prompted consumers to wait for more price corrections before committing to a purchase.
Ms Corinne Chua, managing director for Volvo at multi-franchise motor group Wearnes Automotive, said the quieter car market in May was expected following April’s large-scale car sales event, The Car Expo.
She attributed the rise in the Category B COE premium to dealers delivering cars that were sold at that event.
Ms Chua believes that the Category A premium may continue to fall “unless Tesla sells a lot of Category A cars”, referring to the launch of the Model 3 RWD 110 on May 17. With less power than the popular 208kW version, the new variant falls under Category A.
Mr Vincent Tan, founder of multi-brand dealership Vincar, believes that Category A COE premiums will dip further at the next round because the market has been quiet.
Mr Anthony Teo, managing director of BYD distributor Vantage Automotive, concurred, saying: “The COE price (for Category A) at above $90,000 may be hard for most of the buyers to stomach”.
He said the order intake slowed when the Category A premium hit $94,010 at April’s second tender exercise.
He also noted that, with the narrow price gap between the two car categories – which stands at $12,989 at the latest exercise – buyers who can afford them will go for larger, more powerful cars in Category B.
Mr Tan from Vincar does not think that premiums for larger cars and the Open category will continue to rise, given that the number of bids received this round in these categories was lower than before.
“The premiums for these categories will soften a bit, not a lot,” he said.
