
Cat A COE premiums remain above $100k despite slight dip in second bidding for May 2025, Lifestyle News
PUBLISHED ON May 21, 2025 8:20 AM By Sherly Goh
Category A Certificate of Entitlement (COE) premiums remained above the $100,000 mark despite a slight dip in the second bidding exercise for May 2025.
Most categories saw prices fall in the latest round in fact, with the biggest decline coming in Cat B, where prices went down by almost $3,000.
Cat A COEs, which are used for cars with internal combustion engines (ICEs) of up to 1,600cc in capacity and have a power output of less than 130hp, as well as electric cars with a power output of up to 110kW, went down by $508 to end the bidding exercise at $102,501.
Cat B COEs, which are used for ICE cars that exceed 1,600cc in capacity or have more than 130hp, and electric cars with over 110kW, saw premiums going down by $2,902 to end at $116,988.
Cat C, which are for goods vehicles and buses, saw prices went up by $599 to end the bidding exercise at $63,189.
Cat D, which are reserved for motorcycles, went down by $2 to close at $8,707.
Finally, Cat E, which is open to all vehicles except motorcycles, saw premiums go down by $879 to finish the exercise at $118,010.
Here's a summary of the second COE bidding exercise for May 2025:
Category Current COE Previous COE Difference PQP* A $102,501 $103,009 -$508 $93,718 (May)
$98,328 (June) B $116,988 $119,890 -$2,902 $114,249 (May)
$116,945 (June) C $63,189 $62,590 +$599 $66,428 (May)
$66,109 (June) D $8,707 $8,709 -$2 $9,165 (May)
$9,221 (June) E $118,010 $118,889 -$879 Not applicable
*PQP, or Prevailing Quota Premium, is the moving average of COE prices in the last 3 months, and denotes the amount payable in order to renew a car's COE at the end of its tenure.
sherly.goh@asiaone.com
No part of this article can be reproduced without permission from AsiaOne.
COECarsvehiclesMotoringGetting Around
This website is best viewed using the latest versions of web browsers.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


AsiaOne
6 hours ago
- AsiaOne
Hawkers say sales dropped after Chee Soon Juan wrongly shared their business closed, Lifestyle News
For 15 years, former engineer Christopher Lau, 72, and his wife, Christina Tan, 69, have been selling muffins, chicken pies and curry puffs from their humble hawker stall Bakes N Bites at Old Airport Road Food Centre. While sales were "irregular", Christina told AsiaOne that they had several regular customers. However, she said that business was severely affected after the Secretary-General of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) Chee Soon Juan shared a video on his social media discussing Singapore's "F&B crisis" on Sunday (May 25). In the clip, he mentioned several eateries that had allegedly shuttered, including Bakes N Bites. However, the elderly couple only found out about the news on Monday (May 26) after a friend, who is also in the F&B industry, alerted them to it. "Upon hearing the news, I was totally shocked and sought advice from friends. They advised us to immediately post about the false news on Facebook," Christina recounted. That same evening, the couple were advised to message Dr Chee to take down the video and they dropped him an email on Tuesday (May 27) at around 2am. In the email seen by AsiaOne, Christopher pointed out that not only had the video incorrectly stated that Bakes N Bites was permanently closed, it also mentioned that the business was a cafe instead of a hawker stall. The couple later received a response at around 2.45pm on May 27 from SDP's Head of Branding and Communications Min Cheong-Subramaniam, who shared that the original video has since been removed. An amended version of the video, which doesn't reference Bakes N Bites, was also uploaded. "We sincerely apologise for the confusion and distress caused. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us if you have any further questions or concerns," Min told the couple in the email. In the amended video's caption, Dr Chee also apologised and said: "In an earlier version of this video, I had posted that Bakes N Bites had closed. This was an error. Bakes N Bites are still very much in operation. My apologies to the owners of the outlet for the error." But the damage had already been done, the couple claim. Christina shared that sales had taken a hit over the past few days. "As we are closed on Monday, we never gave a thought on the impact, although we did receive calls from customers who had placed orders enquiring on the closure," she said. On May 27, they served just two customers in the morning and made less than $10 in sales, which alarmed Christina. "I was in tears but asked Christopher to keep me updated for the afternoon," Christina recounted, adding that business similarly remained slow on May 28 and they didn't have many customers. Altogether, over the past two days, sales had dropped by more than 70 per cent, she told AsiaOne. Prior to opening Bakes N Bites, Christopher was a former manufacturing engineer who pivoted to F&B after being retrenched at 55 years old. Christina would help him at the stall after her day job as an administrative role at a construction company. The couple specialise in chilled muffins, chicken pies, curry puffs and brownies. Address: 51 Old Airport Rd, #01-164 & 165, S390051 Opening hours: Tuesdays to Sundays, 11am to 8pm [[nid:716017]] melissateo@

Straits Times
a day ago
- Straits Times
Car COE renewals in Q1 2025 highest since same period in 2020
Experts attribute the higher COE renewals to the uncertain economic outlook, prompting owners to hold off new car purchases. PHOTO: ST FILE SINGAPORE – Some 2,834 cars had their certificates of entitlement (COEs) renewed in the first three months of 2025, more than double the number for the same period in 2024. The figure is also the highest for the quarter since 2020, when there were 5,558 renewals. Since then, first-quarter COE renewals had decreased – from 2,730 units in 2021 to 1,825 in 2022 and 1,129 in 2023. The figure climbed to 1,378 in 2024. Experts attribute the higher renewals to the uncertain economic outlook, which prompted owners to hold off new car purchases. Others are biding their time for electric vehicle (EV) technology to mature before they switch from their existing cars that run on petrol. This comes at a time when there is a larger population of cars reaching the end of their COE lifespan in 2025 than in the past few years. A COE is a requirement for a car to be used on the road. It has an initial lifespan of 10 years, and can be renewed by five or 10 years. Data published by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on May 13 showed that in the first quarter of 2025, five-year renewals accounted for 67 per cent of the 1,204 renewals in Category A, which is for smaller or less powerful cars. In contrast, 74.4 per cent of the 1,630 renewals in Category B – which is for larger, more powerful cars – were for 10 years. Dr Zafar Momin, an automotive industry consultant and adjunct professor at NUS Business School, said the recent renewals may have been driven by risk-averse owners who are concerned about the economic uncertainty and want to avoid shelling out for a new car, which will be costlier than renewing the COE of their existing cars. For example, a person who bought a Toyota Corolla Altis in 2015 would have paid less than $120,000, including a COE. Renewing the COE of this car in 2025 is more affordable than replacing the car with a new one, which is priced at about $170,000 with a COE. The cost to renew a COE is based on the average COE premium in the three preceding months. A five-year COE renewal costs half as much as a 10-year one. The data shows that the number of COE renewals increases when the cost falls. Experts said that while the cost to renew a COE today is high, consumers will find that it is still more affordable than buying a new car. In March, a 10-year renewal for a Category A COE cost $92,525 – the lowest since September 2024, when it was $91,697. This was driven by an $8,601 drop in the premium at the first tender exercise in February. Accordingly, more car owners renewed their Category A COEs in March compared with the previous two months, with 598 doing so. Similarly, more owners of larger cars renewed their COEs in January, when the cost – $109,164 – was the lowest for the quarter. Mr Raymond Tang, managing director of used-car dealership Yong Lee Seng Motor, said the population of cars reaching the end of their COE life includes those that will get a low scrap rebate. It makes financial sense to forfeit the rebate and renew the COE of such cars, he said. For a small and economical family car such as the Mitsubishi Attrage, the scrap rebate before the end of the COE is $2,500. Mr Tang said five-year renewals tend to be more popular for Category A COE cars because the owners of such cars are likely to be more budget-conscious. However, the COE cannot be further renewed at the end of five years and the car must be deregistered. He said owners of Category B cars are less constrained by their budget and want to have the option to continue using the car for longer. Mr Oliver Ong, managing director of Accord Motor Enterprise, which offers COE renewal loans, said the number of inquiries for such loans at his company has increased by around 20 per cent since late 2024. Associate Professor Alberto Salvo from the NUS Department of Economics noted that some owners may be renewing COEs to hold onto their existing cars that run on petrol for a bit longer before making the switch to EVs. These owners, he said, are using the time to watch the development of EV technology and how the charging network develops, and to hear the experience of people they know who have made the switch. This is as EV adoption speeds up. In the first four months of 2025, 40 per cent of all new cars, or 5,947 units, were EVs. Overall, however, EVs are still the minority, making up 6.4 per cent of the total car population as at April 30. Associate Professor Steve Yim, an atmospheric scientist at NTU's Asian School of the Environment and Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, noted that the higher number of COE renewals slows air-quality improvement, as newer vehicles are built to meet more stringent emission standards. New petrol-powered cars registered from September 2017 have to meet the Euro VI emissions standard. It imposes stricter limits on vehicle tailpipe emissions than the Euro IV standard, which was introduced in 2006. Content creator See Neng Tat, 35, renewed the COE for his Mercedes-Benz A180 car in April for 10 years, and hopes to continue using his vehicle for as long as possible. Considering the money and effort he poured into his car over the past 10 years to maintain and upgrade it, the self-professed 'car guy' said he is not attracted to new cars with their many high-tech features. Mr Henry Seah, 44, is keeping an eye on COE renewal prices. He is prepared to spend up to $50,000 to renew the COE of his Mazda Biante multipurpose vehicle by November. Even though this may mean that he can use his vehicle for only five more years, the director of a finance company and father of three said he is not willing to part with more than $100,000 for a 10-year renewal because it is 'just crazy'. Lee Nian Tjoe is senior transport correspondent at The Straits Times, where he also oversees the Motoring section . Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.


AsiaOne
a day ago
- AsiaOne
Made in Singapore: First locally-made Kia, the EV5, officially launched, Lifestyle News
Kia has launched its first locally-made model, the EV5 electric SUV, which will be assembled at the Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Centre Singapore (HMGICS) in Jurong. The announcement to build the Kia EV5 locally was first announced at the Singapore Motor Show in January, and the car has now been officially unveiled during an event held at HMGICS on May 28. While the EV5 is the first Kia-branded car to be made here, HMGICS has been assembling two Hyundai models, the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6, since 2023. The Kia EV5 is an SUV that's slightly smaller than the Ioniq 5, and Kia's local distributor Cycle & Carriage, which will be responsible for retailing the car here, announced that it will be offering the EV5 in three variants - Air, Earth and GT-Line. Being made in Singapore means that Kia can tailor the EV5 to fit local requirements, and two of the variants, Air and Earth, come with 134hp motors that enable them to qualify for a Category A COE. AsiaOne understands that these variants will be exclusive to Singapore and will not be exported to other markets. While both the Air and Earth produce the same output of 134hp and 310Nm of torque, the difference between the two is the size of the battery. The Kia EV5 Air has a 64.2kWh battery, which gives it a range of 400km, and can be charged from 10 to 80 per cent in 36 minutes using a 102kW DC charger. The Kia EV5 Earth meanwhile has a larger 88.1kWh battery, which gives it a longer range of 540km, and can be charged from 10 to 80 per cent in 38 minutes when using a faster 141kW DC charger. The most powerful version of the EV5 though is the GT-Line, which features two electric motors and all-wheel-drive, for a total output of 308hp and 480Nm of torque, and therefore goes into COE Cat B. It uses the same 88.1KWh battery as the EV5 Earth, with charging time remaining unchanged, but range drops to 470km due to the extra load in powering the dual motor setup. The Kia EV5 comes with a host of premium practical features that are designed to offer great convenience. Highlights include the heating and cooling drawer that's located beneath the rear centre console that can keep food and drinks warm or cold while on the move. The drawer is standard on the EV5 Earth and GT-Line models. Other noteworthy features include a fingerprint recognition sensor that allows users to access various saved settings easily, like the seating position and infotainment preferences, as well as an updated version of Kia's remote smart parking assist system, which lets drivers park the car using the smart key while standing outside of the car. Pricing for the Kia EV5 starts at $194,000 with COE (as of May 2025) for the Air variant, and goes up to $210,600 with COE for the Earth model. The Kia EV5 GT-Line meanwhile retails for $260,000 inclusive of COE. [[nid:711713]] No part of this article can be reproduced without permission from AsiaOne.