COE prices mostly up in latest tender

Certificate of entitlement (COE) prices ended mostly higher across the board in the latest tender yesterday, after a slight dip in the last tender.

The COE price for cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp finished at $37,690, up from $35,990 two weeks ago. The premium for cars above 1,600cc or 130bhp closed at $41,101, up from $39,000.

The premium for the Open COE, which can be used for any vehicle type except motorcycles but ends up predominantly used for bigger cars, also ended higher at $41,503 from $39,500.

The commercial vehicle COE price closed at $30,334, down from $31,502, while the motorcycle premium finished at $7,300, up slightly from $7,251.

The Land Transport Authority announced last month that the quota of COEs for cars (including Open COEs) will increase by 5.8 per cent to 4,865 a month for the November to January period. In total, the average monthly quota comes up to 6,649, or 7.1 per cent more than the previous period.

Mr Neo Nam Heng, chairman of the diversified Prime group, said the rise in COE prices for cars was mostly a reaction to the announcement by the National Environment Agency and the Land Transport Authority that there will be an increased rebate of $5,000 for cleaner cars from next year. This applies to cars that are deemed to be in the A1 and A2 bands under the Vehicular Emissions Scheme.

Noting that the sales of cars linked to this round of tender will be registered in January next year, Mr Neo said: "A lot of cars imported by parallel importers are in the A2 category, so they will have an advantage in bidding for COEs.

"Another reason is that with the year ending, major brands are fighting for sales. There are also a lot of new models coming in, and a lot of promotions.

"I think the demand for commercial vehicles has peaked, so prices are going to come down slowly."