Car COE prices inch higher, with Cat A premium up 3.4%

Car prices are likely to remain high after certificate of entitlement (COE) premiums for cars ended higher at the latest tender exercise on April 9.

- Lee Nian Tjoe

At $97,724, the premium for a Category A COE was 3.4 per cent higher than the $94,502 in the previous tender on March 19. This category of COEs is used to register smaller and less powerful cars and electric vehicles (EVs).

For Category B, which is meant for larger and more powerful cars and EVs, the premium was $117,899, an increase of 0.9 per cent from $116,890 recorded at the last exercise.

The price of an Open category (Category E) COE was $117,002—$11 more than the $116,991 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.

At $68,782, the commercial vehicle (Category C) COE price bucked the trend, dipping 1.9 per cent from the $70,089 registered three weeks ago.