COE prices up across all categories; Cat A premium rises 3.4% to $111,890

SINGAPORE – Certificate of entitlement (COE) prices increased across the board on March 18, with the Category A premium rising 3.4 per cent to $111,890.

The price of the Category A certificate, meant for smaller and less powerful cars and electric vehicles (EVs), was $108,220 in the previous tender on March 4.

The motorcycle category (Category D) saw the largest increase in percentage terms, with the premium climbing 11.5 per cent from $8,602 to $9,589. This is the highest price for a Category D certificate since October 2025, when it hit $9,810.

The price of a certificate in Category B, for larger, more powerful cars and EVs, went up by 1.4 per cent to $115,568, from $114,002 previously.

The premium for the Open category, or Category E, rose by 2.8 per cent from $114,890 to $118,119.

Category E certificates can be used to register any vehicle type except motorcycles, but usually end up being used for bigger cars.

At $78,000, the price of a commercial vehicle (Category C) COE went up by 2.6 per cent from $76,000 two weeks ago.

A COE gives a person the right to own and use a vehicle in Singapore. 

Ms Corinne Chua, managing director of Volvo at distributor Wearnes Automotive, said some customers could be drawn to EVs – many of which fall under Category A – because they are the least affected by the preferential additional registration fee (PARF) rebate cuts, which in turn drives up the COE premium.

The PARF rebate is the amount owners get when a car is deregistered by its 10th year. It is calculated as a proportion of the upfront tax paid during registration.

The rebate has been reduced by 45 percentage points across the board, but the financial impact is higher for internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle owners than for EV owners. This is because the absolute PARF value of EVs has always been much lower than that of ICE vehicles.

Ms Chua said demand for Category A COEs has also recovered because customers have moved away from cars in Category B because of their higher COE premiums.

For Category B, she said COE prices went up because more than 50 per cent of bids in the last round were unsuccessful, prompting buyers to try again in this round.

Automotive industry consultant Say Kwee Neng said demand for Category A certificates stayed strong, with surging pump prices from the Middle East conflict encouraging buyers to purchase EVs.

Demand for Category B COEs also recovered on the back of more orders placed during stock clearance sales by luxury brands such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz over the last month, he added.

But Mr Say said it is likely that the demand for Category B certificates – which are required for larger luxury cars with higher scrap values – will wane over time because of cuts to the PARF rebates for cars registered with COEs secured from Feb 20.

On the drop in bids for Open category certificates – from 488 in the previous round to 422 in the current exercise – he said that this reflects dealers’ uncertainty over potential buyers’ interest in Category B cars because of the PARF rebate cuts.

Mr Nicholas Wong, chief executive of Honda agent Kah Motor, attributed the increase in the Open category COE premium to dealers increasing their bids in anticipation that Category B COE prices would rise even more in subsequent exercises.

This is partly due to the upcoming Hari Raya Aidilfitri holiday and the three-week gap before the next tender exercise on April 8, he added.

As Open category certificates are transferable, they give motor dealers the flexibility to register cars without having to wait for the next tender exercise.

Mr Wong, who also oversees motorbike sales at Kah Motor’s sister company Boon Siew, said it is common for the motorcycle premium to surge, as more riders make purchases ahead of the Hari Raya holiday.