SINGAPORE - The supply of car certificates of entitlement (COEs) for the May-July period will dip by 9.5 per cent to 5,875 per month - a much smaller drop than the 20 per cent shrinkage some motor industry players were expecting.
Announcing the quota on Thursday (April 18), the Land Transport Authority said there would be an average of 8,448 COEs per month for all vehicles - 3.5 per cent down from the current quota.
There will be 2,848 COEs per month for cars up to 1,600cc, 13.7 per cent less than currently. The supply for cars above 1,600cc or 130bhp will be 5 per cent lower at 2,278 per month.
The open category, which can be used for any vehicle type except motorcycles but which ends up mostly for bigger cars, will see a 5.7 per cent drop in supply to 749 COEs per month.
Commercial vehicle COE bidders will have 28.1 per cent more certificates at 779 per month.
For motorcycles, the COE supply will rise by 8.7 per cent to 1,794 per month.
The fact that the supply shrinkage is far smaller than feared should ease upward pressure on premiums, according to observers.
Car COEs have shot up by 22 per cent to 28 per cent in the last month.
Others, however, maintain that premiums will only ease if aggressive competition between private-hire operators cools.
Mr Ron Lim, general manager of Nissan agent Tan Chong Motor, said: "Whether the current prices are sustainable will depend on how consumers react to the new quota."
