Cat A, Open category COE prices inch up; Cat A premium up 1.8% to $99,500 (2025)

SINGAPORE – Certificate of entitlement (COE) prices for Category A and E vehicles inched up at the latest tender exerciseon April 23.

The premium for a Category A COE – meant for smaller and less powerful cars and electric vehicles (EVs) – climbed 1.8 per cent to $99,500, from $97,724 recorded in the previous tender exercise on April 9.

The price of an Open category (Category E) COE was $118,001 – 0.9 per cent more than the $117,002 in the previous bidding exercise.

Open category COEs can be used to register any vehicle type other than motorcycles, but are almost always used for bigger and more powerful cars.

The April 23 exercise is the last of the three-month COE quota period from February to April.

The supply of COEs will increase by 6.4 per cent from 17,133to 18,232certificates in the next quota period from May to July.

COE premiums fell across the other categories.

In Category B, which is meant for larger and more powerful cars and EVs, the premium was $117,003, a drop of 0.8 per cent from $117,899 recorded at the last exercise.

At $65,001, the commercial vehicle (Category C) COE premium was 5.5 per cent lower than the previous price of $68,782.

The motorcycle (Category D) COE premium came in at $9,309 – 5.9 per cent lower than the $9,889set previously.

A COE is needed to register a vehicle for use in Singapore. Car prices usually include COEs.

Motor dealers said the slight increase in COE premiums for Category A and Open Category vehicles could be due to excess demand from buyers who are worried that COE prices would increase further in the coming weeks.

This excess demand is driven by a substantial number of cars hitting their 10-year mark and becoming due for scrapping in 2025, as well as by the increased adoption of EVs, they added.

Mr Anthony Teo, managing director of Sime Motors Vantage Automotive, did not expect COE premiums in this round to climb further, given that a quota increase had been announced on April 16.

He thought that some buyers would have waited to see the impact of the quota increase before bidding for COEs.

But Mr Teo added that demand for certificates remained higher than the available supply, especially with the wide range of smaller and less powerful car and EV options falling under Category A.

Citing the high number of unsuccessful bids for Category A COEs in this round – 997 compared with the 1,124 successful bids – Mr Nicholas Wong, chief executive of authorised Honda dealer Kah Motor, said car buyers are “anxious” about bidding for certificates now.

He added that the demand for these COEs is “still very high”, and the supply may not be enough “to quench the rising demand”, even after the quota increase that will be introduced from May.

Ms Corinne Chua, managing director of Volvo Cars at multi-brand distributor Wearnes Automotive, noted that some dealers could be bidding for COEs in the current April 23 tender so that they can be used for deals transacted during The Car Expo 2025 on May 3 and May4.

While she does not expect the current hike in COE prices to affect sales at the car show, she foresees COE premiums rising further after the car show.