A cut and paste from Mr
QX179R thread on the latest round of COE
bidding (22 Feb 2012) ... thanks pal... 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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."
( Ole Ole Ole - JDIL
)
- CNA/wk
