SINGAPORE – There will be 15,104 certificates of entitlement (COEs) available from May to July, an increase of 2.7 per cent from 14,707 for the current three-month period.
Announcing the quota on April 24, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said there will be 5,775 Category A COEs for the next three months, up 3 per cent from 5,609. Such COEs are used to register smaller, less powerful cars and electric vehicles (EVs).
This is the most Category A COEs available since the November 2020 to January 2021 period, which had 5,777.
The number of Category B COEs, which are meant for larger, more powerful cars and EVs, will increase by 1.3 per cent to 3,944 from 3,895.
The number of Open category COEs will increase by 12.9 per cent to 1,048, from 928.
Although such COEs can be used to register all vehicle types except motorcycles, they tend to be used to register larger cars or EVs. This means that effectively, the number of COEs available to register the bigger cars is up to 4,992 from 4,823, an increase of 3.5 per cent.
There will also be more COEs for commercial vehicles. At 1,232, it marks an increase of 5.3 per cent from 1,170 for February to April.
At 3,105, the number of COEs available for motorcycles in the next three months is the same as the current period.
The main determinant in calculating COE supply is the average monthly number of vehicles that are deregistered over a rolling four-quarter period.
The upcoming quota includes 2,400 COEs that are due to expire in the next projected supply peak period: 1,107 in Category A, 800 in Category B and 493 for motorcycles.
This move is meant to reduce the quarter-on-quarter volatility of the COE supply, LTA said.
The car COE categories got their first injection in May 2023. The motorcycle COE category also received such redistribution in the February to April 2024 period.
The next supply period also includes 448 returned COEs, which expired between January and March because they were not used to register vehicles after they were secured earlier.
These comprised 146 in Category A and B, 266 in the Open category and 36 for commercial vehicles.
This is significantly more than what was observed in the previous COE quota period, when there were 20 such COEs.
Allowing a secured COE to lapse means that the holder forfeits the $10,000 bid deposit.
Industry insiders had expected the surge in returned COEs, as premiums in the two car and Open categories have fallen by more than the bid deposit amount in the past few months.
For example, Open category COEs, which set a record premium of $158,004 in October 2023, fell to between $94,006 and $109,004 in the first three months of 2024. The holders of such COEs would be better off by putting in a fresh bid. Secured Open category COEs have a validity period of three months.
Mr Ng Choon Wee, commercial director of Hyundai car distributor Komoco Motors, expects more Category A and B COEs – which have a validity period of six months – to be returned to the bidding pool in the next few months.
Motor dealers, such as Ms Sabrina Sng, a managing director at multi-franchise group Wearnes Automotive, said the industry foresees more cars will be deregistered in 2024 than in the past two years. This is expected to bump up COE supply.
Mr Ng said he does not expect the slight increase in COE supply for the next three months to have an impact on COE prices.
Ms Sng, who oversees insurance, EV brand Polestar and sports carmaker Lotus, added: “Those waiting and hoping for more quota and lower COE premiums will have to wait longer.”
