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05-04-2012, 06:01 PM
The sky's the limit! Thanks to the super-rich here who wouldn't bat an eyelid forking out $84,000 for a piece of paper, everyone else has to bear the brunt of super-high entitlements just to OWN a car! 
Business Times - 05 Apr 2012
Launch of luxury models lifts big car COE prices
By SAMUEL EE
THE big car COE premium continued to rise, buoyed mainly by the launch of new luxury models.
According to some motor distributors, the arrival of the BMW 3 Series and Lexus GS sedans is behind the surge in the premium for Category B certificates of entitlement.
Yesterday's COE tender, the first for April, saw Cat B - for cars above 1,600cc - climbing $1,697 to $83,700. Cat B has been steadily appreciating since the start of this year and is now almost $18,000 higher than it was after the first tender of 2012. It is now hovering at a level last seen 17 years ago for a similar big car category.
'A couple of other luxury makes, as well as the new Toyota Camry, are also attracting good orders,' said one salesman who works in the Leng Kee Road motor belt. 'But if you ask me, it is really the small quota that is forcing premiums up.'
The director of a small European dealership said the mass market has been quiet over the last two weeks because most volume buyers are facing affordability issues. He said: 'For this group of people, the monthly instalment has doubled from a couple of years ago.'
Over at a Japanese dealership, its sales manager said he was surprised at the hike in passenger car premiums. 'I don't understand why COE prices have gone up so much. Only the motor firms can afford to bid so high, not the car buyers themselves,' he said, explaining that sellers of luxury models usually have bigger profit margins to bid for COEs.
Cat E - the open category which currently tracks Cat B - jumped $4,489 to $84,590. Cat A - for cars below 1,600cc - surged $2,000 to $58,501. The sales manager cited the strong sales of the Mercedes-Benz C180 sedan with a 1.6-litre engine as the likely reason for the hike. 'In general, demand for small cars is weak although the taxi companies came in with some aggressive bids,' he said.
Cat C - for goods vehicles - rose $2,478 to hit an all-time high of $53,989, while Cat D - for motorcycles - was the only category to post a decline; it slipped $104 to $1,896.
Business Times - 05 Apr 2012
Launch of luxury models lifts big car COE prices
By SAMUEL EE
THE big car COE premium continued to rise, buoyed mainly by the launch of new luxury models.
According to some motor distributors, the arrival of the BMW 3 Series and Lexus GS sedans is behind the surge in the premium for Category B certificates of entitlement.
Yesterday's COE tender, the first for April, saw Cat B - for cars above 1,600cc - climbing $1,697 to $83,700. Cat B has been steadily appreciating since the start of this year and is now almost $18,000 higher than it was after the first tender of 2012. It is now hovering at a level last seen 17 years ago for a similar big car category.
'A couple of other luxury makes, as well as the new Toyota Camry, are also attracting good orders,' said one salesman who works in the Leng Kee Road motor belt. 'But if you ask me, it is really the small quota that is forcing premiums up.'
The director of a small European dealership said the mass market has been quiet over the last two weeks because most volume buyers are facing affordability issues. He said: 'For this group of people, the monthly instalment has doubled from a couple of years ago.'
Over at a Japanese dealership, its sales manager said he was surprised at the hike in passenger car premiums. 'I don't understand why COE prices have gone up so much. Only the motor firms can afford to bid so high, not the car buyers themselves,' he said, explaining that sellers of luxury models usually have bigger profit margins to bid for COEs.
Cat E - the open category which currently tracks Cat B - jumped $4,489 to $84,590. Cat A - for cars below 1,600cc - surged $2,000 to $58,501. The sales manager cited the strong sales of the Mercedes-Benz C180 sedan with a 1.6-litre engine as the likely reason for the hike. 'In general, demand for small cars is weak although the taxi companies came in with some aggressive bids,' he said.
Cat C - for goods vehicles - rose $2,478 to hit an all-time high of $53,989, while Cat D - for motorcycles - was the only category to post a decline; it slipped $104 to $1,896.
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