COE prices fall across the board for all categories

In the first Certificate of Entitlement (COE) bidding exercise for June 2024, premiums fell across the board in all categories, with both Category A and B car COEs seeing the biggest drops.

Cat A COEs, which are used for cars with internal combustion engines (ICEs) of up to 1,600cc in capacity and have a power output of less than 130hp, as well as electric cars with a power output of up to 110kW, went down by $4,500 to end the bidding exercise at $88,200.

Cat B COEs, which are used for ICE cars that exceed 1,600cc in capacity or have more than 130hp, and electric cars with over 110kW, saw the largest drop, and premiums went down by $5,082 to end at $100,607.

Cat C, which are for goods vehicles and buses, saw prices went down by $1,412 to end the bidding exercise at $70,589.

Cat D, which are reserved for motorcycles, went down by $322 to close at $8,989.

Finally, Cat E, which is open to all vehicles except motorcycles, saw premiums go down by $3,402 to finish the exercise at $101,600.

Sabrina Sng, a managing director who oversees insurance and car brands Lotus and Polestar at dealership group Wearnes Automotive, noted that the lower bid prices for this round suggested that most dealers have a lower threshold to bid as they were likely meant for cars sold earlier at relatively cheaper prices.

She added, "some of these bids could be from existing orders from The Car Expo event in April that did not manage to secure COEs in the previous rounds." These cars were mostly retailed at attractive prices, which meant that dealers had less room to move in securing COEs for the registration of these cars.

Other industry observers also noted that the current June school holidays could have contributed to the dip in demand, as many potential buyers would have been travelling abroad during this period. However, the fall in prices could spark renewed interest in car buying over the next couple of weeks, which could lead to a slight rise in COE premiums in the next tender exercise that will take place on June 20.

Here's a summary of the first COE bidding exercise for June 2024:

*PQP, or Prevailing Quota Premium, is the moving average of COE prices in the last 3 months, and denotes the amount payable in order to renew a car's COE at the end of its tenure.

benjamin.chia@asiaone.com

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