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OPINION

COE review: The gap between luxury and mass-market cars isn’t the only one worth bridging 

Commercial vehicles and motorcycles, whose prices vary significantly within their categories, merit a closer look

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Derryn Wong

Derryn Wong

Published Wed, Oct 14, 2026 · 08:35 PM
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    • Passenger cars have always been split into mass-market and premium COE categories, but commercial vehicles and motorcycles have not seen similar moves.
    • Passenger cars have always been split into mass-market and premium COE categories, but commercial vehicles and motorcycles have not seen similar moves. PHOTO: YEN MENG JIIN, BT

    [SINGAPORE] The Republic is considering measures to preserve the Certificate of Entitlement (COE) differentiation between mainstream and luxury cars, maintaining one of the key principles of the system.

    However, Singapore should also begin to seriously think about similar moves for commercial vehicles (CVs) and motorcycles – as vehicle prices within these respective categories can vary significantly.

    Announced on Oct 8, the Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) possible changes include combining the current mainstream and luxury-car COE categories: A and B, respectively.

    COEAutomotiveCommercial vehiclesMotorcycles

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