COE prices up across all categories; Cat B posts largest increase of 6.1% to $106,101
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
The price of Category A COEs climbed for the fourth consecutive time.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Follow topic:
SINGAPORE – Certificate of entitlement (COE) prices rose across the board at the latest tender on Aug 7, with the premium for bigger cars recording the largest increase.
At $106,101, the premium for Category B certificates, meant for larger and more powerful cars and electric vehicles (EVs), was 6.1 per cent higher than the $100,000 in the last exercise three weeks ago.
The $6,101 hike came after the COE premium for this category dipped $901 in the previous round.
The price of Category A COEs, which are for smaller and less powerful cars and EVs, climbed 2.6 per cent to $94,289, from $91,899. This is the fourth consecutive increase in the COE premium for this category of vehicles.
The Open category (Category E) COE premium ended at $105,239, 4.9 per cent higher than the previous price of $100,341. Although Open category certificates can be used to register any vehicle type except motorcycles, they are almost always used for bigger and more powerful cars and EVs.
The price of motorcycle COEs (Category D) went up by 5.6 per cent to $9,601, from $9,089.
The commercial vehicle (Category C) COE premium ended at $71,100, 0.7 per cent more than the $70,601 registered at the previous tender.
Motor traders attributed the premium hikes to the three-week gap from the previous tender. As the period between the tenders was a week longer than usual, dealers have had more time to collect orders. This is reflected in the number of bids entered at the latest tender.
Compared with the previous exercise, there were 17 per cent more bids in Category A, and 29 per cent more for Category B.
Correspondingly, the number of unsuccessful bids has also gone up.
Dealers said those who failed to get their COEs will try again over the next few rounds, keeping demand high.
Adding to the demand for COEs are recent product launches, which have stimulated buying interest.
These include the Singapore-assembled Hyundai Ioniq 6 EV and offerings from two new premium Chinese EV brands, Xpeng and Zeekr.
Eurokars Auto, one of two BMW dealerships in Singapore, said its showroom in Leng Kee Road has been more crowded than usual since the last tender.
Mr Ng Choon Wee, commercial director of Hyundai distributor Komoco Motors, said that compared with the two weeks after the first tender exercise in July, it sold twice as many cars in the past three weeks.
The Land Transport Authority said on July 23 that the number of COEs available for bidding for the three-month period from August to October would be higher by 1.2 per cent
Mr Ron Lim, head of sales and marketing at Nissan distributor Tan Chong Motor, said the announcement spurred showroom traffic and sales.
“Customers decided that it is not worth waiting any longer for COE prices to fall, so they decided to bite the bullet to come into the market,” he added.
When asked if he expects the COE premium for smaller cars to continue to rise, Mr Lim said: “There’s simply too many players in Category A. The new ones are bent on taking market share from the incumbents, who are busy defending their share at all costs.
“This only adds unnecessary pressure on COE prices, when the quota is just inching up bit by bit each quarter. Even if there is any price correction, it would be short-lived.”
