There has been an upsurge in the number of people thronging car showrooms in Singapore as the Certificate of Entitlement (COE) premiums for cars fell to their lowest in eight years.
Dealers of cars have welcomed the move and have even slashed prices by offering discounts of SGD2,000 and SGD6,000 for Hyundai and Mitsubishi cars in the hopes of attracting more customers over the weekend.
Notably, Certificate of Entitlement (COE) premiums for small and large cars fell to the lowest in over eight years in the latest bidding exercise which was conducted on July 4.
COE premiums in Category A (cars up to 1600cc and engine power not exceeding 97kW) fell by 27 per cent to SGD25,000 from SGD34,110 in the previous bidding exercise, marking the lowest level since March 2010 when premiums were SGD21,421.
Category B, which comprises large cars (cars above 1600cc or 97kW) also saw premiums dipping 9 per cent from SGD33,900 in the previous bidding exercise to SGD31,000 – the lowest since March 2010, when the premium was SGD25,190.
The drop in COE premiums has come a shot in the arm for Singapore citizens looking to buy cars. At the Hyundai showroom, a discount of SGD5000 is being offered on small cars under category A. Similarly, discount of SGD3,000 is being given on big cars coming under Category B over the weekend.
Mitsubishi has put out a SGD6,000 discount for its Attrage range till Sunday, as well as SGD2,000 discounts for its Category B cars.
To promote environmental friendly cars, Singapore government rolled out the Vehicular Emission Scheme (VES) to encourage car buyers to choose vehicles that have lower emission of pollutants.
Particulate matter has been included in the list of five pollutants measured in the scheme from July 1, under which tax rebates or surcharges are given for new cars based on the amount of tailpipe pollutants released. With particulate matter in the mix, more cars are likely to have tax surcharges.