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SINGAPORE: Certificate of Entitlement (COE) premiums for larger cars fell on Friday (Feb 20) in the first bidding exercise since the reduction of rebates for scrapping cars before 10 years.
Premiums for larger and more powerful cars in Category B fell 5.3 per cent to S$105,001 (US$82,705) from S$110,890.
For smaller cars in Category A, premiums closed at S$106,501, up slightly from S$106,320 in the last exercise.
The last time Category B prices fell below that for smaller cars was in July 2018.
Open category COEs, which are used mainly for large cars, fell 2.7 per cent on Friday from S$116,000 to S$112,890.
Motorcycle premiums also fell, closing 3.6 per cent lower at S$7,989, compared with S$8,289 in the last exercise.
COEs for commercial vehicles, which include goods vehicles and buses, rose to S$74,999 from S$74,801 in the previous bidding exercise.
A total of 5,066 bids were received, with a quota of 3,183 COEs available.
Cars registered using COEs from this exercise were the first to fall under the revised Preferential Additional Registration Fee (PARF) rebate scheme announced in the recent Budget.
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced that PARF rebate rates will be reduced by 45 percentage points across the board, while the rebate cap will be halved from S$60,000 (US$47,590) to S$30,000.
A PARF rebate is granted when a car is deregistered before its 10th year.
Analysts CNA spoke to said that the rebate reduction could lead to higher sales of electric vehicles (EVs), given the lower impact on their depreciation value and may also boost the secondhand market.
This is also the second bidding exercise for the February to April period, during which the overall COE supply will fall compared to the previous three-month period. It is the first such drop since 2022.
A total of 18,824 COEs will be available during this period, down from 18,984 during the November 2025 to January 2026 period.
