Cat A COE premium hits all-time high of $139,001; Cat B price also rises

SINGAPORE – The Certificate of Entitlement (COE) premium for Category A vehicles hit an all-time high of $139,001 on Nov 4, eclipsing the previous record of $133,009 set on Sept 9.

Category A COEs – meant for smaller, less powerful cars and electric vehicles (EVs) – increased 5.3% from the previous price of $132,004.

This also marks the first time that the COE price for Category A has outstripped that of Category E.

Category B COE premiums – used to register larger, more powerful cars and EVs – also increased, but more modestly, from $131,901 to $132,334 – a 0.3% increase.

The only other COE category to post an increase in prices was for Category E or the open category.

It increased by 0.2%, from $135,790 to $135,998.

Open category certificates are transferable and can be used to register any vehicle type except motorcycles. Motor traders often secure them for the flexibility to register cars without waiting for the next tender exercise.

The price of a commercial vehicle certificate dipped by 0.2% from $92,200 to $92,000.

Motorcycle COEs closed at $10,689 – 0.8% lower than the $10,778 at the previous exercise.

The latest COE results come after the Land Transport Authority (LTA) closed its public consultation exercise on COE categorisation on Nov 2.

The exercise was to gather feedback on a proposed review of the COE system, which is expected to be completed by the first half of 2027.

Besides proposing a merger of the two car categories, other suggested changes include a fee and rebate system, in which buyers of higher-value cars will pay higher premiums compared to those who purchase mass-market options.