Mainstream car COE premium dips just 0.5%, stays above S$100,000
This comes as car retail activity quieted but new private-hire bids came in
[SINGAPORE] Premiums for most Certificates of Entitlement (COEs) categories retreated in May’s second round of bidding, with the mainstream-car category remaining almost unchanged, and the large-car category posting the biggest drop.
This comes as passenger car COE premiums have been on the up since February, with the mainstream-car category setting new records in the preceding two rounds of bidding by cracking the S$100,000 mark.
The Category A premium ticked downward just half a percentage point or S$508 to S$102,501.
Category A is for mainstream cars that have engines of up to 1,600 cubic centimetres (cc) in capacity or with up to 97 kilowatts (kW) of power, or for electric vehicles (EVs) with up to 110 kW of power.
The latest result bucks the category’s general upward trend from its low of S$85,000 in February’s first round of bidding to a 2025 record of S$103,009 in May’s first round of bidding.
While it was the biggest mover this round, Category B was down just 2.4 per cent, or S$2,902, to S$116,988.
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The Category B COE applies to larger, more powerful cars with engines exceeding 1,600 cc in capacity or with more than 97 kW, or for EVs with more than 110 kW.
Category B reached a 2025 low of S$109,598 in February’s second round of bidding, but rose to S$119,890 in May’s first round of bidding.
Category E decreased 0.7 per cent or S$879 to S$118,010. It is the Open Category, which can be used to register any type of motor vehicle except for motorcycles, but is typically used to register vehicles from Category B.
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Category D, for motorcycles, was almost unchanged: down S$2 to S$8,707.
The commercial vehicle category, C, posted the only rise in May’s second round of bidding. It was up 1 per cent or S$599, to S$63,189.
Pulled back and forth
Car dealers The Business Times spoke to said while the retail market quieted, prices remain elevated as dealers continue to clear orders taken at a recent major car show and there was new activity from private-hire car fleets.
“The drops for Category A and B were within market expectations,” said Raymond Ng, managing director for Eurokars EV, the authorised distributor for MG.
Ng said that while buying activity in the past two weeks was quiet, most dealers would still be clearing orders taken at The Car Expo, one of Singapore’s two major annual car shows that was held from May 3 to 4 at Singapore Expo.
“It is within our expectations that (COE premiums) will hover around this level until all the orders taken at the show are flushed out. After the show, the market is usually quiet for the next few rounds of bidding,” he said.
But other dealers had expected premiums to retreat more, especially on the back of the highs that Category A has reached so far this year.
Ron Lim, head of sales and marketing for Tan Chong Motor Sales, the authorised dealer for Nissan, told BT that, given his own market research, he had expected a larger drop in premiums.
The fact that premiums remained largely stable could be attributed to private-hire car fleets bidding in this round, he said, as they had been less active in previous rounds.
“(Private hire car fleets) were absent in the previous rounds because The Car Expo drove bidding, but after they noticed that car retail had slowed, they came in,” he said.
Premiums did not go up because the fleets are also cognisant of high COE prices now.
“I think they don’t want to push it too high either, we are all at the threshold – Category A is still very near its highest level ever,” said Lim, referring to the all-time record of S$106,000 set for the category in October 2023.
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