COE prices rebound for large cars and Open category, but others continue to fall

In the 2nd COE bidding exercise for November 2023, Cat A closed lower at $85,001, Cat B rebounded to $135,336, Cat C closed at $73,889, Cat D closed at a stable $10,001, while Cat E increased to $135,002.

Cat A (car up to 1600cc or 130bhp, and EV with up to 110kW) received 1,291 bids for 925 COEs and its premium decreased by $10,688. Category A COE closed at $85,001.

Cat B (car above 1600cc or 130bhp, and EV with more than 110kW) received 1,228 bids for 648 COEs and its premium increased by $25,335. Category B COE closed at $135,336.

Cat C (goods vehicle and bus) received 368 bids for 190 COEs and its premium decreased by $4,112. Category C COE closed at $73,889.

Cat D (motorcycle) received 702 bids for 545 COEs and its premium decreased by of $888. Category D COE closed at $10,001.

Lastly, Cat E (all vehicles except motorcycle) received 323 bids for 151 COEs and increased by $9,991. Category E COE closed at $135,002.

Commenting on these COE results, Jason Lim, managing director for BMW authorised agent Eurokars Auto, told Motorist: "Cat B COE to go up is expected. We saw renewed interest from BMW Eurokars Auto customers in this segment last weekend."

Sabrina Sng, managing director of Polestar and Lotus under Wearnes Automotive, told Motorist: "We expected a Cat B rebound for sure, but I think the jump was bigger than expected, given that we heard some dealers in the market dropped prices quite significantly in tandem with the prior Cat B COE drop."

Nicholas Wong, general manager of Honda authorised agent Kah Motor, told Motorist: "I think it's very puzzling, Cat A dropped by $10,000 but Cat B went up by $25,000, so now the gap is back to $50,000. The gap was $15,000. Cat B quota is still not enough, that's why. We need more Cat B COEs to fill the gap because the demand is still strong."

A senior executive at a major dealership in the Alexandra Road motor belt told Motorist: "We expected the Cat B COE to be around $130,000, plus minus. These two weeks, we had huge customer traffic looking at our Cat B cars, so our sales actually increased a lot for our Cat B cars." 

Here is a summary of the 2nd COE bidding exercise for November 2023:

ALSO READ: COE prices fall across categories, with Category B seeing biggest drop of $40k

This article was first published in Motorist.