Small car COE falls, big car COE soars

[SINGAPORE] Certificate of entitlement (COE) prices ended mixed in a tender marked by new car launches and an unexpectedly bigger supply in the main car category.

When bidding ended at 4pm on Wednesday (July 17), COE for cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp closed at $26,667, down from $28,589 three weeks ago. This category had about 200 unused COEs carried over from last month.

COE for cars above 1,600cc or 130bhp finished at $39,406, up sharply from $34,000 as several recent launches of premium vehicles - including the Mercedes-Benz CLA, BMW 7 and Porsche 911 - whipped up demand.

Open COE, which can be used for any vehicle type except motorcycles but ends up mostly for bigger cars, closed at $39,889, up from $36,901.

Commercial vehicle COE fell for the sixth consecutive tender to close at $24,599, down from $25,08. Motorcycle premium finished at $3,554, up from $3,081.

Industry observers reckon COE for smaller cars will continue to hover at prevailing levels or even dip in the face of weak consumer sentiment. But increasingly heated competition between premium makes - notably Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi - will support premiums for bigger cars.

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