SINGAPORE - Car buyers are in for a sizeably smaller supply of certificates of entitlement (COEs) for the August-October quota period.

Around 6,207 COEs will be available for bidding each month, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced on Saturday (July 25).

This includes the Open category, which can be used for any vehicle type except motorcycles, but mostly ends up being used for bigger cars.

This is 28.9 per cent less than the current 8,737 COEs.

The quota is determined largely by the number of cars taken off the road in the preceding three months.

Compared to July, August to October's quotas are lower, as there were fewer vehicles deregistered in April to June, compared to January to March, an LTA spokesman said.

The COE supply for cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp will be at an average of 1,967 a month, 23.4 per cent down from 2,568 now.

The supply for cars above 1,600cc or 130bhp will average 1,729, 33 per cent down from 2,581 now.

In the Open category, 903 COEs will be available, 2.26 per cent more than the 883 now.

Meanwhile, commercial vehicle COE bidders will have 674 certificates a month, 31 per cent less than 978 now.

Motorcycle bidders will have 934 COEs a month, 45.9 per cent less than the 1,727 currently.

The accumulated COE quota of 19,490 from the suspended bidding exercises from April to June due to the circuit breaker is being returned to the market over 12 months from July this year to June next year.

One-third of the accumulated quota, equivalent to 6,494 COEs, will be returned from July to September this year.

The remaining two-thirds of the accumulated quota - 12,996 COEs - will be returned over the subsequent nine months from October this year to June next year.