Premiums for all COE categories rise; big cars lead with S$9,000 jump, beating mainstream cars

[SINGAPORE] The Certificate of Entitlement (COE) premium for Category B rocketed by over S$9,000 in March’s first bidding exercise on Wednesday (Mar 4).

The large-car category’s jump beat out the rise in Category A, which overtook Category B for the first time in almost six years in the last round of bidding. That came after recent changes in deregistration rebates for cars.

Industry players commented that the lower Category B premium compared with Category A’s at the Feb 20 bidding helped to fuel interest in bigger cars and resulted in a rise in Category B premium this round.

The Category A premium rose 1.6 per cent or S$1,719 to S$108,220. The category applies to mainstream cars with 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 Category B premium was 8.6 per cent or S$9,001 higher at S$114,002. This category is for cars with an engine capacity of more than 1,600 cc or with more than 97 kW of power, or for EVs with more than 110 kW. 

The commercial vehicle category, C, posted a 1.3 per cent or S$1,001 increase to S$76,000. The premium for Category D, used for motorcycles, rose 7.7 per cent or S$613 to S$8,602. 

Category E, the open category that can be used to register any type of motor vehicle except for motorcycles, rose by 1.8 per cent or S$2,000 to S$$114,890. 

Managing director of Vantage Automotive Anthony Teo said that there was an increase in orders for bigger cars, for example, BYD Sealion 7, after the last bidding exercise in February where Category A’s premium exceeded that of Category B. He commented that buyers with deeper pockets would usually pick bigger cars when the premiums for Categories A and B are close.

Managing director of Premium Automobiles Lee Hoe Lone said that apart from that reason, interest in car buying rose after the Chinese New Year holidays.

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Teo of Vantage Automotive, which distributes BYD passenger cars in Singapore, forecast that Category B premium will either be stable or slide a little at the next bidding because buyers might be deterred by the wide swings in premium – a sudden drop of 5.3 per cent earlier and an 8.6 per cent increase this time.

For Category A, demand should not be affected because the premium only inched up a bit this time and the gap between Categories A and B has widened, he added.