SINGAPORE: Certificate of Entitlement (COE) premiums for big cars crossed S$120,000 (US$87,816) in the first bidding exercise of 2025 on Wednesday (Jan 8), marking their highest price in over a year.

Premiums for larger and more powerful cars in Category B rose to S$121,501 from S$109,000.

Open category COEs, which can be used for any vehicle type but end up being used mainly for large cars, rose to S$123,000 from S$108,992.

The last time large car COE premiums went above S$120,000 was on Dec 6, 2023.

For Category A cars, or those 1,600cc and below with horsepower not exceeding 130bhp, premiums closed at S$93,699, down from S$96,000 in the last exercise.

COEs for commercial vehicles, which include goods vehicles and buses, fell to S$67,891 from S$69,890 in the previous bidding exercise.

Motorcycle premiums closed at S$9,001, up from S$8,381 in the last exercise.

A total of 4,021 bids were received, with a quota of 2,670 COEs available.

The government plans to progressively inject up to 20,000 additional COEs across all vehicle categories from February over the next few years.

The move is in view of the upcoming implementation of the ERP 2.0 system for traffic congestion management.

Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat said in parliament in last November that further injections in COEs could be considered in the future if distance-based charging is adopted.

Last year, some market analysts told CNA they anticipated COE premiums to increase in the short to medium term, driven by growing demand for electric vehicles, particularly from Chinese manufacturers like BYD. Skyworth, another Chinese EV maker, also opened its first showroom in Singapore on Tuesday.