SINGAPORE: Certificate of Entitlement (COE) premiums
rose across the board at the close of bidding at 4pm on Wednesday,
with prices for commercial vehicles hitting another new
high.
The COE for commercial vehicles crossed the S$50,000
mark for the first time to close at S$52,004.
That's a rise of S$2,203 or 4.42 per cent from the
previous high of S$49,801 in the bidding exercise on 8
February.
The COE for small cars closed at S$57,009, up by S$4,200 or 7.95
per cent.
The COE for big cars rose to S$78,189, an increase of S$4,299 or
5.81 per cent.
The premium for motorcycles ended at S$2,012, up S$210 or 11.6 per
cent.
The COE for the open category went up to S$78,000, an increase of
S$4,199 or 5.68 per cent.
Tan Chong Motor general manager of sales and marketing, Ron Lim,
told Channel NewsAsia he was surprised COE prices continued to rise
despite the market slowdown.
"There is speculation that some of the dealers perhaps didn't
manage to get all their bids in the previous round, so... this
round, they have to come in and secure the COE for their
customers.... pushing the prices so much higher," Mr Lim
said.
Asked about the new high in the commercial vehicles category, Mr
Lim said it was due to the significant cuts in the COE quota for
this category to more than 160 per tender.
But he said he felt the rise in prices is not sustainable given the
economic outlook.
He added it may take another few rounds of bidding before prices go
down again as there is still a backlog of unsuccessful bids.
"Whether these prices will be sustainable will be a big question
mark," he said.
"If you look across the board, most of the COEs have risen 15 to 18
per cent within two short rounds. I feel that the market needs to
take a breather. So we'll probably see some corrections
soon."
Singapore Vehicle Traders Association honorary secretary Raymond
Tang said: "There was overwhelming demand in the market that caused
Category A and Category B to be up.
"There are a lot of orders and a lot of stock coming in, in March
and April, so most of the motor firms take this time to bid instead
of later on, when you might see even higher COEs.
"Commercial vehicles definitely will be staying high. I won't be
surprised seeing commercial vehicles going as high as Category
A."
- CNA/wk
