With a long list of cars that will be porting over to Cat B come next month, it seems that many car buyers have taken a conservative approach, which has resulted in the absence of large scale changes in premiums in the latest bidding exercise.
Consumers are likely to adopt a wait-and-see approach especially if they are in the market for a small car. It is expected that with lesser cars in Cat A, demand for Cat A COE will drop and hence the premiums.
However, the drop in premiums is highly unlikely to be of large scale. Experts have estimated COE prices to remain at the current levels. LTA has also announced that the supply of COE will shrink across all categories, and this move will likely counter the drop in demand for Cat A and cause price levels to remain unchanged.
Category A COE premiums for cars with engine displacement of up to 1,600cc had a minuscule dip of $79 to end at $72,290 today - a difference of 0.1 percent.
Category B COE premiums - for cars with engine capacities above 1,600cc - experienced an increase, albeit a softer one, once again. Premiums under this category ended at $79,000 - a difference of $300 or a percentage difference of 0.38 percent.
The Open Category COE premiums or commonly known as Category E closed at $78,810 - a 0.24 percent decrease or a mere $190 - from the amount recorded during the 1st January exercise at $79,000.
