LTA continues with its "cut-and-fill" tactic of reallocating additional COEs from future guaranteed deregistrations of vehicles on five-year, non-renewable COEs, so as to stabilise the current COE supply.

The applicable deregistration numbers of Cat A and Cat B cars for this current quarter (2024 February to April), which largely determine the base quota, were higher than for the previous quota period. 

Said numbers were probably not sufficient on their own to increase the COE quota for this period, but were enough to justify a slightly smaller "cut-and-fill" of 1,800 Cat A COEs and 1,150 Cat B COEs to maintain a constant quota from the previous quarter (which received a total of 2,116 extra COEs for Cat A and 1,188 extra COEs for Cat B from the "cut-and-fill" then). 

For the next three months of COE bidding exercises, there is a 2.2 per cent bump in the overall COE quota from 14,388 to 14,707. 

More than half (57 per cent) of the 319-certificate increase will go to the big-car categories B and E. Cat E COEs are almost always used to register bigger, more powerful cars which are categorised under Cat B (ICE cars above 1600cc or 130bhp, and fully battery-electric vehicles with more than 110kW of power).

Category A (ICE cars up to 1600cc & 130bhp, and fully battery-electric vehicles with up to 110kW of power) will get 96 extra COEs. Category C for good vehicles and buses will get 41 more COEs for the 2024 February to April COE quota period.

Meanwhile, Category D COE supply for motorcycles is kept steady, with the same 3,105 certificates for 2024 February to April as 2023 November to 2024 January. 

This figure, however, would have been about 10per cent lower if the LTA didn't bring forward the expected deregistrations of motorcycles on five-year COEs, which would henceforth be part of the "cut-and-fill" tactic that aims to reduce COE supply volatility as Singapore's car market approaches the COE supply bonanza expected in 2025. 

This article was first published in Motorist.

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