Riders will now have to pay $8,081 for a Certificate of Entitlement (COE) before they can buy a motorbike.
The record-high premium – 8 per cent higher than the previous rate ($7,483) – emerged in the latest tender yesterday.
The COE premium for cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp rose by 1.9 per cent to end at $51,765. The COE premium for cars above 1,600cc or 130bhp inched up by 1.3 per cent to close at $54,000.
The premium for an Open category COE, which can be used for any vehicle type, finished 2.8 per cent higher at $54,501. All three new prices are the highest in four months.
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Commercial vehicle COE bucked the trend by closing 4 per cent lower at $47,036.
Singapore Motorcycle Trade Association honorary general secretary Norman Lee said the record-high COE for two-wheelers was fuelled partly by buyers who are downgrading to smaller models after heftier taxes were imposed on bigger motorcycles last month.
By moving from say, a 1,200cc model to an 800cc model, Mr Lee said “they easily save $10,000 right away”.
With the saving, they are bidding more aggressively.
Parliamentarians have voiced concerns about the skyrocketing motorbike COE and its impact on low-income families.
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Mr Sitoh Yih Pin, chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport, said the higher taxes were “targeted at reducing demand for larger-capacity motorcycles”.
This way, “it was hoped that COE prices will be reduced in order to aid buyers of smaller motorcycles, who use their bikes for essential transport or work”.
This article by The Straits Times was published in The New Paper, a free newspaper published by Singapore Press Holdings.
