AFTER stellar figures in the first five months of 2023, Singapore registrations of upper-crust luxury cars such as Ferrari and Rolls-Royce plummeted in June because of tax increases.

Industry watchers said the impressive results for the first half were front-loaded as buyers rushed to purchase cars before the Additional Registration Fee (ARF) tax increase could no longer be avoided.

The ARF hike was announced on, and effective from, Feb 14, but dealers could avoid the tax by using open category certificates of entitlement (COEs). These have a three-month validity, so if they were secured in February, they could be used to register a car between then and May.