COE prices for cars continue to fall in latest bidding exercise
TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE — Certificate of Entitlement (COE) prices for cars continued their downward trend after the latest round of the bidding exercise closed on Wednesday (June 7), with prices for small cars falling to their lowest so far this year.
Premiums for small cars (up to 1,600CC & 97KW) went down by 2.77 per cent to S$45,201, the lowest since the start of the year.
Large cars (above 1,600CC OR 97KW) saw premiums go down to S$50,110, from S$53,001 in the previous bidding exercise.
In the Open Category, which can be used for any vehicle type but ends up mostly for big cars, COE premiums went down by 2.83 per cent to S$50,526.
Separately, premiums for commercial vehicles went up by 25.82 per cent to close at S$38,501. COE prices for motorcycles remained unchanged since the last bidding exercise.
Motor traders TODAY spoke to attributed the drop in COE premiums for cars to the impending adoption of Euro 6 emission standards for petrol vehicles.
The shift to Euro 6 emission standards, which are set by the European Union, was announced by the National Environment Agency in December 2014. It is aimed at reducing nitrogen oxides and fine particulate emissions — in particular the PM2.5, the tiny particles that penetrate deep into the respiratory system — from vehicular emissions.
Mr Raymond Tang, managing director of Yong Lee Seng Motor, said that with the remaining Euro 4-compliant vehicles that distributors and parallel importers have in stock dwindling in the light of the switch to Euro 6-compliant vehicles, the demand for these cars, though still healthy, is gradually on the decline.
And since orders for newer cars that are Euro 6-compliant will be arriving only around the last quarter of the year, “there is no hurry for” distributors and importers “to bid very competitively” this time, said Mr Tang.
Mr Neo Tiam Ting, president of the Automobile Import and Export Association (Singapore), noted that demand for car COE premiums is likely to continue to soften, at least for the rest of the month.
However, it should slowly pick up by August, added Mr Tang, as newer Euro 6-compliant cars enter the market.
On the continual increase in premiums in the commercial vehicles category, Mr Neo said it was a likely result of the drop in premiums two months ago, which saw COE prices nosedive more than 40 per cent.
That weakening in prices might have led to a surge in demand in the following weeks, he added.
Mr Tang added that even with the rise this bidding exercise, the COE premiums are “still lower” compared to earlier this year, which makes vehicles in this category still attractive to prospective buyers.
NUMBERS AT A GLANCE:
Cat A (Cars up to 1,600CC & 97KW): S$45,201 (down from S$46,489)
Cat B (Cars above 1,600CC OR 97KW): S$50,110 (down from S$53,001)
Cat C (Goods vehicles and buses): S$38,501 (up from S$30,600)
Cat D (Motorcycles): S$6,101 (no change)
Cat E (Open category): S$50,526 (down from S$52,000)
