The Land Transport Authority opened the first October certificate of entitlement exercise on Monday, giving car buyers until 4 p.m. on 7 October to submit bids while the Category B prevailing quota premium sits at S$131,616. That figure, published after September’s second round closed at S$133,000, is the reference point dealers use when quoting loans and the number households must beat if they want a larger petrol car without overpaying.
How this round fits the quota
LTA’s August-to-October quota release kept total supply nearly flat, with small shifts between categories. Category B received a modest quota increase compared with the May-to-July window, but successful bids still outnumbered available certificates in September, pushing the premium up S$2,001 in the second round. Motorists who deferred purchases now bid into the same pool as fleet replacements and buyers who need a car before year-end travel.
What households should model
A COE quote is only part of the driveway bill. Buyers must stack the premium with registration fees, additional registration fee where applicable, insurance and loan tenure. Prevailing quota premium rules mean repeat bidders who missed earlier rounds may have to top up if the market clears higher this week. For families comparing a Category A small car against Category B, the spread between September’s S$131,890 Category A close and the Category B levels shows how tight the market remains even when premiums slip slightly between rounds.
Commercial vehicle operators in Category C face a different curve: September’s second exercise closed at S$92,144 with a prevailing quota premium of S$92,614 entering October. Delivery firms baking COE into per-trip pricing watch that line as closely as commuters watch Category B.
Calendar quirks
LTA warned earlier this year that some bidding weeks include a longer gap between exercises when Mondays fall on holidays. October’s second exercise is scheduled to close on 21 October, giving buyers who fail this round another shot before November. Motorcycle buyers in Category D enter with a prevailing quota premium of S$11,161 after September’s S$12,201 close, one of the few segments where the reference number moved down.
Why premiums stay elevated
Policy makers have promised to inject additional certificates through the decade as electronic road pricing 2.0 tools mature, but the near-term supply is fixed by deregistrations and growth caps. With loan rates still sensitive to global bond yields, a flat or slightly lower premium still translates into a heavy upfront cash call. Households should decide their ceiling before bidding, not after a dealer SMS arrives minutes before the exercise closes.
Results typically publish on the evening the exercise ends. Until then, the S$131,616 Category B prevailing quota premium is the scoreboard every bidder is trying to undercut—or quietly accepting if they cannot wait another fortnight.